Born of the Stars
by Kath7
Summary: Post-Harvest - Three mysterious newcomers in Roswell make Liz question her future with Max.
1. Chapter 1

[u]Part 1[/u]  
  
[I]November 2000 - Copper Summit, Arizona[/I]  
  
The destruction was complete. When Nicholas had called them, she had hoped that he was exaggerating, that something could be salvaged. But there was no way. It was all gone.  
  
They had driven through the night to be in Copper Summit as quickly as possible, in order to rally their people before despair set in. But none of them had expected the absolute finality of what had happened. As was historically the precedent, where Zan went, chaos had followed. She should have known that things would not have changed simply because his face was different, just because the planet was new.  
  
And, yet, she had hoped. Because without their people - their followers - how were they ever going to return home? How were they ever going to reclaim all that they had lost when Zan had set into motion all the events that had stranded them on Earth over fifty years before?  
  
It was hopeless now. Their people would die. Without the Harvest, they would all just fade away, gradually returning to the dust that had formed their skins in the first place.  
  
She felt a brief flash of relief that she was not dependent on any [I]skin[/I], that she and her most loved ones were perfectly safe. On Antar, the half-human bodies they inhabited would possibly end up a liability. But here on Earth they were what kept them strong, were what meant they would live to kill Zan so that they could all return home, so that the Golden Age of peace that had been prophesied with each of their births could come at last to their galaxy.  
  
She stared at the dead husks for several more seconds, then turned, headed back up the stairs and into the harsh Arizona sunlight.  
  
Jack was waiting for her at the door. "It's bad, huh?"  
  
"Don't go down there," she told her cousin firmly. "You don't want to see it." Jack was sensitive. He would not be able to handle it. She didn't want him to have to remember the sight of the end of all their hopes and dreams.  
  
She knew that she wouldn't be able to stop Will. He would look, would feel that it was his duty. It was always about duty with her brother, always about what [I]had[/I] to be, not about what he really [I]wanted[/I].  
  
But then Will had never wanted anything for himself after he lost Rowena. Even though it had been in another lifetime, he had never recovered. The only way he had gotten through it had been by struggling to do his duty - by focusing on nothing else. He was a king. It was his responsibility to go on.  
  
Will remembered what had happened when Zan had let grief interfere with duty after all. They all did. He had completely destroyed any hope of peace their galaxy had ever had.  
  
"Where's Will?" She asked Jack. "He'll want to see." She swallowed, closed her eyes to the flash that appeared before her eyes of the lifeless husks, the skins that had been meant to protect her people for another fifty years - until they could find the granolith, until they could take them home.  
  
They had failed. Completely and utterly. In two lifetimes.  
  
"He's still in the Church with Nicholas," Will replied, running a hand through his blond hair and glancing behind her into the darkened shed, as though he wanted to ignore her advice, like he wanted to see for himself.  
  
"No Jack." She made her voice firm. He would not disobey a direct order.  
  
He sighed. "Fine." He trailed after her as she hurried across the road towards the Church. She had to speak to her brother. He had asked her to check out the damage and report back. He would go see for himself eventually, but, for the moment, Nicholas had the information they needed. Nicholas was Will's first priority.  
  
For the first time in fifty years they knew where to find Zan. Nicholas had even [I]seen[/I] him. They had actually found him. It was almost incomprehensible to her. They had been looking for so long and suddenly he just popped up where they least expected him.  
  
In the end, he had come to them.  
  
Zan had been in Copper Summit, had destroyed the Harvest and had gone back to where he came from. But, this time, they could follow.  
  
And where Zan was, the granolith could not be far away. There was still a chance to save their people.  
  
She stopped abruptly when she sensed that Jack was no longer following her. Turning on her heel, she prepared to retrace her steps, to chase him down into the chamber under the shed where the Harvest had been hidden. Jack had never disobeyed an order before, but, then, something of this magnitude had never happened before either. She almost didn't blame him.  
  
She should have known better though. Because Jack hadn't gone anywhere, it not being his nature to go against she or Will. Instead, he was standing in the centre of the dusty road, a strange expression on his face.  
  
She narrowed her eyes, watched him for a moment as he lifted his chin, closed his eyes and seemed to [I]sniff[/I] the air. Finally, when she could take it no longer, she called to him. "Jack? What's going on?"  
  
He didn't reply for a long moment. When he finally opened his eyes, she was shocked to see tears welling in the clear blue depths. "Oh my God. I can't believe it." His voice shook.  
  
"Jack? What?" She felt her heart enter her throat. He didn't answer, merely rubbed a weary hand across his face, shaking his head in disbelief. She moved forward, grabbed his arm, shook him. "Jack! Answer me!"  
  
He stared at her for a long moment and, then, the most amazing thing happened.  
  
He smiled. And not just any smile. It was so completely beatific, it nearly blinded her.  
  
How could he smile like that after what had happened? Had he gone crazy?  
  
But when he spoke again, she knew he had not. "Kate, it's a miracle." She blinked, wondered why her heart seemed to be beating at fifty times the normal rate.  
  
When he finally told her though, she was not surprised. Not in the least.  
  
"It's Rowena. I saw her. She was [I]here![/I] Kate, she's alive."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
[I]Roswell, New Mexico - Three days later[/I]  
  
Liz Parker stood on her toes, peeked through the window on the door of her biology classroom.  
  
She needed to know if he was in there, had to steel herself if he was. She had to be ready for the coldness that was going to come off him in waves at the sight of her, had to prepare herself for being ignored for the whole period.  
  
"What are we looking at?"  
  
Liz jumped about a foot, whirled around and found herself face to face with her best friend, Maria Deluca. Her other best friend, Alex Whitman, stood directly behind the pretty strawberry blonde, a matching expression of curiosity on his face. Liz's heart returned slowly to its normal rhythm as she exclaimed, "Maria!"  
  
Maria grinned at her, raised an eyebrow. "I repeat, what are we looking at?"  
  
But Liz couldn't answer her. Because [I]he[/I] was coming down the hallway towards her. And he wasn't alone.  
  
He was with Tess. Just like he had been every time she had seen him since the night she had pretended to sleep with Kyle - since the night she had broken his heart.  
  
He walked right past her without saying a word, no expression on his beloved face. He didn't even [I]look[/I] at her. He just headed straight into the classroom, Tess on his heels, her nose in the air.  
  
He had not looked at her even once since they had returned from Arizona. Because, now that they were back, now that they had dealt with the Whittaker mystery and the Harvest, he didn't need her anymore.  
  
Now that he actually believed that she had slept with Kyle, for him, she had ceased to exist.  
  
Because hadn't she seen the exact moment that he had started to believe it? The expression on his face before he walked away from her on that street in Copper Summit. It was haunting her even more than the one he had worn the night he had come to her window with the tickets to Gomez, the night that she and Future Max had orchestrated the complete betrayal of everything that Max and Liz were supposed to be about. Because what he had said to her in Copper Summit had told her that until she flat-out told him that she and Kyle had [I]made love[/I], he had still held on to a shred of hope that it was not true - that she would explain things, that it would all go away.  
  
[I]What I saw can't be true, because it means everything I felt in my heart for the last year is a lie![/I]  
  
His voice ran through her mind, reminding her how she had almost broken in that instant, how she had almost told him the truth. She had never seen him that angry, that upset. And [I]she[/I] was the one who had caused it. The last person who was supposed to hurt him, she had been the one that had completely demolished him.  
  
But she had been strong. She had basically told him that he was right, that everything he had thought about her [I]had[/I] been a lie.  
  
Which was, of course, the biggest lie of all.  
  
Liz closed her eyes, fought the tears that threatened.  
  
"Whoa." Alex's voice managed to penetrate the miasma of despair within which she was beginning to get lost. "What the hell is going on between you two? That was a far cry from [I]I'm coming for you Liz.[/I] What happened?"  
  
Liz swallowed, opened her eyes. Both Maria and Alex were staring at her, matching expressions of confusion and disbelief on their faces. Because, of course, neither of them knew anything yet. With everything that had happened over the past week, there just hadn't been time to tell them.  
  
Not that she could tell them anything anyway. She couldn't tell [I]anyone[/I].  
  
A shiver ran down Liz's spine. And, finally, she truly understood exactly how it had felt to be Max Evans in all those years before he had saved her life that day in the Crashdown.  
  
The loneliness came crashing down on her like a wave. She could feel herself drowning in it.  
  
"Liz!" Maria's hand was on her arm, her expression terrified. "What's wrong?"  
  
She had to tell them something. They were never just going to leave it alone. They were her best friends after all. So this time she would just tell them the truth, which was, in the end, just another lie. "I slept with Kyle. Max caught us together."  
  
Liz didn't wait to see their reactions. She pushed her way into the bio lab as quickly as she could, her head lowered. She let her hair fall into her face, didn't look at Max as she went to her place next to him. At least she could do that for him - leave him alone, not torture him with the chore of having to ignore her.  
  
It was just typical that they had ended up as lab partners again. She had tried to switch at the beginning of the year, but when Ms. Hardy had demanded an explanation, had asked her if Max had done something, she just couldn't bring herself to tell their teacher that somehow it was Max's fault. Plus she couldn't have borne the expression on his face when he would have found out that she had asked for a new partner.  
  
None of this was Max's fault after all. At least not [I]her[/I] Max's. He was probably wishing by now that [I]he[/I] had asked for a new partner.  
  
With the train her thoughts were following, she was completely unprepared for the sound of his voice when he spoke to her. "Liz!?"  
  
Liz almost jumped out of her skin. His tone - it sounded like he had been trying to get her attention for a while. She turned her head, looked at him, feeling like she was in some kind of daze. Was this how she was going to feel for the rest of her life? Was it ever going to get better? Would it ever get easier? "Yeah?"  
  
He looked.Liz didn't know [I]how[/I] he looked. She would have said [I]annoyed[/I], but when their eyes met, for one split second she saw something flash through them that looked like.was that worry? He had obviously noticed how out of it she was, how upset, and [I]he[/I] was worried.  
  
She had broken his heart and he was worried about [I]her[/I]. Her heart swelled with all the love she felt for him.  
  
But the moment was so fleeting, it barely registered before she realized that Max was nodding towards the front of the class where Ms. Hardy was staring at both of them. Oh God! Had the teacher spoken to her? Liz raised her voice, cringed inwardly at how weak it sounded. "Yes Ms. Hardy?"  
  
Ms. Hardy was frowning slightly. Liz saw a flash of concern run across her face. Of course she would be worried. Liz couldn't remember the last time she had been caught not paying attention in class. Glancing around, Liz was relieved to see that the lab hadn't really started yet. Their teacher clearly wanted to ask her something privately because she was motioning for Liz to join her at the front.  
  
Liz hopped off her stool and wound her way through the tables. She felt Max's eyes on her the whole way. Passing by the table Maria and Alex shared, Liz turned her head away from them, not wanting to see the likely still shocked expressions on her friends' faces. She knew that they were not just going to let her out-of-nowhere announcement go, but, for now, she was safe from their questions.  
  
It was then that she saw him, standing quietly beside Ms. Hardy, watching her approach.  
  
He was tall, almost as tall as Michael, with pitch-black hair that was worn slightly long. He was standing near the teacher's desk, a stack of notebooks and texts in his arms, like he didn't have anywhere to dump some of it, which could only mean that he was a new student, one who hadn't been assigned a locker yet.  
  
She was about five steps away when their eyes locked. Liz blinked. His eyes were intensely, almost painfully, blue.  
  
And, then, the most amazing thing happened. Something that she would never have believed was possible - not since Max. But, it actually happened.  
  
Another boy made her heart skip a beat. 


	2. Chapter 2

[u]Part 2[/u]  
  
"Liz, this is Will Spencer. He just moved to Roswell," Ms. Hardy said, causing Liz to break eye contact with the new guy. Her heart was still racing.  
  
What on Earth was happening to her? She couldn't actually be interested in [I]another[/I] guy? She knew that it was impossible. After Max, there was just no way. No other boy could ever compare. And, yet, there was no denying that she was tingling from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.  
  
Liz peeked at him again. She blushed when she realized that he was staring at her and quickly looked away. She attempted to tune in to what her biology teacher was saying. ".show Will to his locker and then he can join you and Max for the experiment today. We don't have any singles left in the class and he's going to need a partner, but for now it will be the three of you."  
  
At the mention of Max's name on her teacher's lips Liz felt a flash of guilt so intense, she barely managed to suppress the tears that appeared unbidden in her eyes. She had just broken Max's heart and here she was thinking about another guy! What the heck was wrong with her?  
  
She turned her head slightly to the right, glanced in Max's direction. He was watching her, no expression on his face. She sighed when Tess suddenly appeared at his elbow, distracting him. He turned his head to talk to the blonde, effectively shutting Liz out completely.  
  
Suddenly getting out the classroom seemed like the best idea Liz had heard in a long time. She needed air - she was suffocating slowly in her own misery.  
  
"Sure Ms. Hardy," she managed to mumble. She didn't look at Will again as she headed towards the door and out into the empty hallway, the final bell having rung. She instantly felt better.  
  
It was the worst feeling in the world to know that she could breathe again because she was away from Max. At one time, she barely breathed unless she was [I]with[/I] him. It was killing her to know what her deception was doing to them. Everything was upside down and just plain [I]wrong[/I].  
  
"I can probably find it myself, if it's a big pain."  
  
Liz whipped her head around, stared at the new guy. His voice sent a shiver down her spine. It was soft, but confident, appealingly deep. "I." She stumbled over the words. Their eyes met again and she felt the same tingling sensation. But this time she recognized the feeling. Or maybe it was more accurate to say that she somehow recognized [I]him[/I]. Liz narrowed her eyes. "Do I know you?"  
  
She saw something flare in his eyes. Was it pleasure? Liz felt her confusion grow. Because he didn't seem to think it was crazy that she might ask him that - even though she [I]knew[/I] she had never met this guy before. "I don't think so," he finally replied, sounding a little hesitant if Liz was not mistaken. "I just moved here. But maybe we knew each other in another life?" He quirked a lopsided grin in her direction.  
  
Liz felt herself blush slightly, not sure if it was because of how stupid her question had sounded or because he was teasing her. Or maybe it was that smile. It was boyish and, yet, completely sexy.  
  
And suddenly she just admitted it to herself. Will Spencer was hot. He was a damn good-looking guy and there was nothing wrong with the fact that she had noticed. It didn't mean she loved Max any less. It just meant she was a human female. Because anyone who [I]didn't[/I] notice his appeal would either be an alien - or dead.  
  
"I'm sorry," Liz replied, more strongly this time. "I'm totally out of it this morning. You must think I'm a total flake." She held out her hand. "Do you have your locker number?"  
  
"285," Will told her, making Liz pause for a moment and then just shake her head slightly. Apparently the cosmos were trying to make sure that Max was never far from her thoughts.  
  
"Are you okay?" Will asked, sounding a little freaked. She didn't blame him. She was behaving like a total psycho.  
  
Stupid cosmos. For one split second she had not felt horrible, had felt like a normal person again. Apparently that was over.  
  
It wasn't fair. She had only done what she had to do to save the world. And she was going to suffer for it for the rest of her life while Max moved on without her - with Tess. The mere thought of it was enough to make her want to scream and pull out her hair, but she was a stronger person than that. The least she could do was enjoy a conversation with a good-looking guy! Liz tried again. "Where did you move from?"  
  
"California," Will said promptly, "By way of Arizona."  
  
Liz sighed. It was going to be a [I]long[/I] day - or at least a long walk to Locker 285. Every word that came out of Will's mouth reminded her of Max. "Arizona's nice," Liz returned. "I was there recently. We better hurry. Max'll need our help with the experiment."  
  
"Whatever you want Liz." The way her name rolled off his tongue.It sent another shiver through her frame.  
  
She needed to get a hold of herself. There was no way that she was going to be able to get through biology with Will and Max at the same table if she didn't. It was supremely ridiculous, but true. Her attraction to this new guy was enough that she was sure that Max would notice it.  
  
There was no way she was going to let [I]that[/I] happen. Not after all she had already done to hurt him. Liz glanced at Will and suddenly had a brilliant idea. It was going to get them both in trouble from Ms. Hardy, but the idea of facing Max again was just too, too exhausting. Plus she needed to spend some time with this guy, make herself see that there was nothing special about him, that he was just a regular teenage boy. "I know that this might seem like sort of a strange question." Liz trailed off, unsure if she could really go through with it.  
  
"What?" Will inquired, sounding interested. His eyes were warm on her face. Liz stared into their blue depths, literally felt herself getting lost.  
  
"Have you had breakfast?" She blurted, blinking to break the spell. "Because I know this [I]great[/I] restaurant that has the best omelettes in the world."  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
Liz never came back to Bio.  
  
Max Evans managed to somehow sleepwalk his way through the experiment they had been assigned for the day, but his eyes spent more time on the door than on his microscope, waiting impatiently for Liz to return. By the time the bell finally rang and she had never reappeared, he wasn't sure whether he was worried or furious.  
  
Well, both emotions were better than nothing. Because nothing was what he had managed to feel for the past week - ever since they had returned from Copper Summit. Ever since he had finally accepted that what he had seen with his own two eyes - Liz in bed with Kyle Valenti - had [I]really[/I] happened.  
  
He had known it was only a matter of time until he [I]felt[/I] the complete and utter pain of what he had seen - until his heart finally caught up with his head. He just wanted it over with. The dull ache wasn't enough. He wanted the agony, wanted the complete despair.  
  
He wanted to be able to move on. And he knew that he was going to have to grieve first, that he was going to have to mourn the loss of the dream that had been Liz Parker.  
  
But fury and worry were [I]not[/I] better than nothing he realized suddenly. Because they meant that he was still inextricably tied to Liz - that he still cared and had not, in any way, started to let her go.  
  
Could his life suck any more?  
  
He tried not to reflect on the main reason he was so potentially angry and worried at the same time.  
  
Max had not missed the way Liz had stared at the guy Ms. Hardy had introduced her to. She had looked at him like she used to look at Max - in fact, the way she had looked at Max just this morning. Because he could not deny that she had seemed miserable, practically drowning in her guilt and sorrow when he had first seen her this morning. And underneath the guilt and sorrow he had, without a doubt, seen love.  
  
He knew that Liz Parker still loved him. Which was what made what had happened even more unbelievable and inexplicable.  
  
Apparently he was a glutton for punishment because he had actually felt horrible for her. He had felt [I]her[/I] emotions coming off of her in waves as she had joined him at their table - her pain so deep it had almost drowned out his own. In spite of it all, their connection was still as strong as ever. It had taken all of his strength not to talk to her, to comfort her.  
  
Whatever had happened with Kyle, there was no doubting that she felt terrible about it, that she maybe even regretted it. But it had still happened and Max knew that he would never understand [I]why[/I]. Had she really been so desperate to be rid of him? When she had told him that night in his room that she wanted normal boys and that she didn't want to die for him, he hadn't believed her. The way she had looked at him this morning had told him that he had been [I]right[/I] not to believe her.  
  
None of it was the Liz he had fallen in love with. She could not have changed that much over the summer. It was just impossible. Yet, it had happened. She had given herself to Kyle Valenti, someone Max [I]knew[/I] she wasn't in love with. And she regretted it. There was no doubt.  
  
Obviously she didn't want [I]his[/I] comfort though. If she did she wouldn't have done what she had, wouldn't have tried so hard to drive a permanent wedge between them. And, yet, she loved him. He knew she did.  
  
But, then, she had gone to the front of the room and everything had changed. Max had actually [I]felt[/I] the charge that had run through Liz as she was introduced to the new guy. It had taken all of his strength not to jump to his feet and to haul her away from him. They had disappeared into the hallway and had never come back and he had sat at his table and stewed, making a cursory attempt at his work.  
  
Which was why he had spent the entire period trying to decide if he was supposed to be worried or angry. Because he really didn't understand what his role was supposed to be in the farce that his life had become.  
  
"Max, are you coming?" Tess' voice snapped him out of his stupor. He turned his head, looked at her and sighed. He really did appreciate how Tess had been there for him over the past week, but the way she was becoming his shadow was a little overwhelming. Every time he turned around she was beside him. Sometimes it got to be a bit much, even though he knew she was only feeling a little protective of him.  
  
Tess was the only one who knew the truth of what had happened between he and Liz. He couldn't bring himself to tell Michael and Isabel - not yet. He had the bad feeling that he was putting it off so that he could still pretend that it had never happened, in spite of the fact that Liz had demanded that he accept it in Copper Summit.  
  
It was just that [I]none[/I] of it made sense. Nothing Liz Parker had done over the past two weeks did - including ditching Biology with some new guy Ms. Hardy had just introduced her to.  
  
"Yeah." He stood, followed Tess into the hallway.  
  
Max was staring at his feet, trailing behind Tess, which is why it happened. He wasn't watching where he was going and, before he knew it, he had rammed right into someone and he had not only dropped [I]his[/I] books, but the other person's had gone flying as well.  
  
"Max!" Tess exclaimed, sounding concerned. Always worried about him was Tess. It was driving him bananas. He was almost beginning to wish he hadn't said yes when she had asked him if he wanted her to stay that night in the park.  
  
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" The melodic female voice made him look up abruptly from where he was already gathering together the other person's stuff.  
  
He blinked as his eyes met the soft blue gaze of a girl he had never laid eyes on before. She was slender with delicate features and pitch-black hair that tumbled down her back in a riot of curls. She was exquisitely beautiful, almost ethereal. Max knew that he was staring, but he could not tear his gaze away from her.  
  
And it appeared that she felt exactly the same way.  
  
They locked eyes for a full minute. He watched in fascination as her face paled. Her eyes narrowed for a split second before she pasted a smile on her face. "Sorry 'bout that," she repeated, practically grabbing her books from his hands. She jumped to her feet and almost sprinted past him down the hall.  
  
Max climbed slowly to his feet, perplexed.  
  
"What was [I]that[/I] all about?" Tess asked, sounding equally as confused. "Was she weird or what?"  
  
Max continued to stare down the crowded hallway in the direction the strange girl had disappeared so abruptly. He brought a hand up behind his neck and rubbed, frowning slightly, trying to understand what had just happened here.  
  
And, yet, he somehow knew. Because the feeling was extremely familiar. After all, hadn't he experienced it just six months before with the girl standing beside him now, a worried look on her face?  
  
"Tess, I [I]know[/I] that girl."  
  
"What do you mean Max? I've never seen her before in my life."  
  
"I." He paused, felt a frisson of fear descend his spine. "Tess, this is going to sound absolutely crazy, but I think that girl is one of us."  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Alex Whitman followed Maria Deluca out of their biology class and towards the doors leading out of the school. It had definitely been the longest hour of his life. He had had to sit there listening to Maria's absolutely panicked chatter about Liz while trying to calm his own fear.  
  
There was something [I]very[/I] wrong with his best friend, obviously. The Liz he knew would not only [I]not[/I] announce that she had been caught in bed with her ex-boyfriend by her soulmate, announce it in a public place yet, just about the most insane thing Alex had ever heard, but she would not then disappear completely off the face of the planet, ditching class in the process, with a complete stranger.  
  
"I still think we should check around here first Maria. Liz wouldn't just skip. We should have talked to Max." But instead they had come barreling out into the hallway and Max was likely gone by now.  
  
Although how Alex was supposed to have asked Max Evans if what Liz had said was true - that he had caught her in bed with Kyle Valenti - well, it was a mystery for the ages. Max was a brooder at the best of times - and he was obsessed with Liz at the best [I]and[/I] worst of times. If this was all real, than the guy had to be about ready to have a nervous breakdown - or kill himself. Alex would not put anything past Max when it came to Liz. He had seen his whacko behavior over Liz all summer after all. Max gave new definition to the term "lovesick."  
  
Alex had witnessed the way that Max had frozen Liz out during their brief interaction in Biology, knew that something was incredibly wrong between them - knew that what Liz had blurted out had to be true.  
  
But how? Why? It didn't make any sense. Things didn't often make sense in the alien abyss, but this was just loony-tunes!  
  
"Alex, she was a basketcase. I'll bet she went home." Alex could hear the tears in Maria's voice. She was barely holding it together. Alex understood why. Maria depended on Liz to be the sane one, the normal one.  
  
This was [I]not[/I] Liz behavior. Something was incredible wrong.  
  
"But the guy Hardy introduced her to never came back either," Alex argued. "Maybe they're together."  
  
"Why would Liz go off with a complete stranger?" Maria demanded.  
  
"Why would Liz sleep with Kyle?" Alex shot back.  
  
Maria stared at him. "Maybe she's been possessed?" And, then, her eyes widened. "Alex, you don't think that guy was an alien? Maybe he was mindwarping her! Oh my God! We do need Max. And Michael." She turned abruptly on her heel and headed in the other direction. "Max is in English right now. Michael's in shop."  
  
"Maria, stop!" Alex called after her. "Could we please formulate a plan here? Shouldn't we at least try to find Liz ourselves!"  
  
But she was already gone.  
  
Alex gripped the straps on his backpack, frowned after her. He knew he should follow her, but, for some reason, he didn't. Instead he proceeded out the doors into the bright New Mexican sunshine, blinking against the glare. He would just head over to the Crashdown, make sure that Maria had not been right, that Liz wasn't there.  
  
He almost tripped over someone huddled on the stoop leading into the school. "Jeez! Sorry! I didn't see you!" He glanced down at the girl sitting there, frowned again.  
  
She was staring up at him, an absolutely unmistakable expression on her face. He had only ever seen the like once before - on both Liz and Isabel when Pierce had held Max in the White Room.  
  
This was sheer, unadulterated, paralyzed terror. She was afraid. "Hey! Are you okay?"  
  
The girl blinked, shook her head. Alex watched in amazement as she entire expression changed, as the fear he had seen disappeared more quickly than he could even comprehend. "Doesn't anyone in this school ever watch where they're going?" The girl muttered, standing up and tossing her head in a gesture that reminded Alex of someone. He followed the tumble of her dark curls with his eyes, fascinated in spite of himself.  
  
It took him but a moment to realize who she made him think of. It was in her height, in her stance, even in the way her blue eyes had frozen over abruptly. Her every mannerism was reflective of someone Alex had spent many years watching with admiration. She reminded him of Isabel Evans.  
  
"Seriously," Alex repeated. "My name's Alex Whitman. Are you okay? Can I help?"  
  
The girl stared at him, her eyes narrowing. "I doubt it," she replied frostily. "No one can help me. No one can help any of us."  
  
And with that, she turned on her heel and stalked away. 


	3. Chapter 3

[u]Part 3[/u]  
  
Kate Spencer was in turmoil. There was no other way to describe how it had felt to actually come face to face with Zan like that.  
  
She had recognized him immediately. His eyes. They had not changed a bit, were still the same dark amber, even though they looked slightly different in the human face he now wore. They still shone with intelligence and an innocence that masked his true nature so effectively, she had actually felt like throwing her arms around him before she remembered who he was.  
  
He was Zan, the destroyer of her world. It didn't matter that at one time she would have done anything for him. He was her enemy now. It was a choice [I]he[/I] had made. There was no way to change it, even if she did remember how much she used to love him, like the brother Will had never found the time to be in that other life.  
  
She had never expected it to happen so abruptly, that they would track him down so easily, but when she had chased Will down to the high school, she should have known that the fates were aligning, that when her brother actually did something irresponsible and completely fool-hardy, for the first time ever, it meant that the apocalypse was well near nigh.  
  
Zan had recognized her too. She had seen it in those eyes that would always betray who he was. She had barely managed to pull herself together enough to leave the scene before she did something she would regret later. Because, in the instant after she had moved past remembering how much she used to love him, she had wanted to kill him - right there in public.  
  
She couldn't though. This mission was [I]too[/I] important! It was completely wrong to let emotion - to let [I]memory[/I] - interfere. And, for the first time in this life, not to mention the last, it was what Will was letting happen.  
  
Kate had known that it had hit Will hard to hear that Rowena had been found - that not only was she alive, but she was living in the same town as Zan, that she was actually [I]friends[/I] with her greatest enemy, because apparently she was. She had been in Arizona with him, had been working with him. When Jack had described her to Nicholas, the leader of the Copper Summit Skins, he had confirmed it.  
  
The irony of it was not lost on any of them. Rowena had been found and she was working with the one person she should have absolutely known better than to have anything to do with.  
  
Nicholas had filled them in on the little he had known about her. Apparently she was going by the name Liz Parker in this lifetime. Nicholas hadn't paid much attention to her after all, sure that she was just one of Zan's human minions, of which he apparently had several. But then Nicholas had never known Ro, had only become Khivar's right-hand man after Ro's death.  
  
The whole thing had freaked Will out - big time. He had been unable to hide his fear for Ro, that Zan was using her in an effort to gain a foothold over Will, just like he had before. It was the same fear that had made him lie to Kate and Jack. Kate knew this intellectually, but she still could not help the anger she felt at her brother. He was actually jeopardizing the whole mission in his quest to reclaim Rowena. Their first priority had to be the granolith. They needed to save their people. It [I]was[/I] a miracle, as Jack had called it, that they were apparently going to be able to save Rowena at the same time, but it had to be secondary.  
  
It just had to be. They could not fail their people again. Not like they had, so completely, before. They had been reborn to save them, to liberate them. It was their sole purpose, no matter how much Will wanted to recapture what he had had with Rowena.  
  
Kate had chased her brother down to West Roswell High School to remind him of this pertinent fact, but, in the process had made things ten times worse. Because, in the end, wasn't it she who had [I]literally[/I] smacked right into Zan, alerting him to their presence?  
  
And, so, now she wandered the streets of Roswell, her heart beating irregularly, expecting Zan to pop out from behind every second tree, expecting him to come after her. It was what he would do after all. He would know that they were here for the granolith, would do everything in his power to protect it. And there was no question that Zan's power was immense. Even connected with Will and Jack, she would be hard-pressed to defeat him if he truly wanted to win. And if Nicholas was right, then Zan had also brought together [I]his[/I] Four Square. He, Ava, Vilandra and Rath were all together, were all bonded.  
  
They were unbeatable.  
  
Except that.  
  
And, suddenly Kate understood exactly why Will had been so desperate to reconnect with Rowena. Because, in the end, she was their only hope to defeat Zan.  
  
Apparently her brother had not been merely a fool for love after all.  
  
A smile of admiration broke across her face. Now all she had to do was find Will and tell him that she fully approved of his plan, that she fully supported any effort to bring Zan down before he could use the granolith and truly win.  
  
With Rowena back in their camp, it was only a matter of time now. Zan of Antar's days were numbered.  
  
**************************************************  
  
Alex pushed his way through the doors to the Crashdown, his eyes narrowing at the sudden dimness after the bright morning sunlight. When he finally managed to refocus, he felt his heart start to pound in a more regular rhythm as relief ran through him.  
  
He had found Liz. She was all right. Thank God! He was going to kill her for practically giving Maria a conniption and taking a year off his own life. The restaurant was almost empty, so he opened his mouth to do just that when he realized that Liz was not alone.  
  
She was sitting at the counter beside that new guy, the one Hardy had sent her off with, and apparently she was [I]more[/I] than all right. Because, at the moment, Liz Parker was laughing her head off.  
  
"LIZ!" Alex couldn't help himself. He yelled her name, irritation and pleasure mixed in his tone in equal parts.  
  
Liz looked up, blinked. "Alex?" She asked, barely managing to suppress another giggle. "Hi!" She glanced at the clock behind the counter. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in PE?"  
  
"Aren't [I]you[/I] supposed to be in Chemistry?" Alex shot back. He eyed the guy sitting beside Liz with suspicion now. He was looking at Alex with an open expression on his face. Alex turned back to Liz, raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
Liz's face was slightly flushed, as though she was now a little embarrassed. "Well, yeah," she admitted grudgingly. "But Will's new in town. I had to show him the best place to eat, didn't I?"  
  
"In the middle of Bio?" Alex asked, hard-pressed to stay mad at her. It was better to see Liz a little giddy and playing hooky than how he had seen her earlier that day. She had been practically drowning in her own misery not two hours ago.  
  
But it still didn't make any sense, this sudden happiness. Not with the way that Max and Liz had been behaving towards each other and not with what Liz had told them about Kyle. Clearly something was wrong with Liz Parker and one fun breakfast with some new guy was not going to fix that. She was putting on an act, a very effective one, yes, but Alex was already beginning to see through it.  
  
Liz was grimacing. "I just couldn't." She broke off, looked away. Alex knew that he was not the only one thinking about Max Evans now. He could have kicked himself. Because apparently Liz had managed to forget whatever disaster had befallen her star-crossed romance this week, even if only for a little while. And what had he done? He had brought it all crashing back down on her. Some friend he was!  
  
Alex looked at Will again, this new guy apparently responsible for brightening Liz's mood considerably, and suddenly felt much more charitable towards him. "Hey, sorry. I'm being totally rude." He extended his hand. "I'm Alex Whitman. Best friend and general worrywart with brotherly tendencies. It's not like Liz to skip out of class, so I was freaking a bit."  
  
"I can understand that," Will replied, accepting Alex's hand in a firm grip, his blue eyes friendly. "Liz told me that herself actually, although I'm having a hard time buying the goody-two-shoes reports considering the fact that not only did she ditch Bio, she made me do it too!" He nudged Liz lightly, making her laugh again.  
  
Alex stared at her. Was she actually blushing? Good Lord! Apparently this guy had not only improved Liz's mood. He had also tilted the world off its axis, because there could be no other explanation for why Liz Parker would be looking at this Will character like.  
  
Well, like he was Max Evans.  
  
It was freaky. And Alex was suddenly very, very wary again. He remembered Maria's comment that maybe this was a mindwarp on Liz, that this guy was somehow controlling her. Could his wacky friend actually be right? Because to have Liz looking at him like this so quickly, it was just completely [I]wrong[/I] in a way Alex could not comprehend.  
  
He was going to get to the bottom of this, immediately, if not sooner.  
  
"Hate to be rude again," Alex began tentatively, "But Lizzie, I really need to speak to you alone."  
  
He watched Will closely. Was he imagining that he saw something flash in Will's piercing eyes? He didn't think so. That had looked entirely too possessive for Alex's peace of mind, like the hesitation one would expect from a boyfriend when his girl was going to hang out with a guy that he didn't know well.  
  
Yup. Something was definitely rotten in the state of Roswell.  
  
Alex was beginning to regret that he had run out of the school so quickly. Maria had been right. Maybe he should have waited for some Czechoslovakian back up.  
  
But whatever it was Alex had seen on Will's face was gone almost immediately. "Of course," Will shrugged. Alex frowned when he noticed that Will was staring over his shoulder. But when he turned around, whatever it was the new guy had been looking at was gone. "I need to get back to school anyway. I don't want to get booted out on my first day."  
  
Alex narrowed his eyes as Will brought a friendly arm up and gave Liz a squeeze. "I'll see you later Liz. We're still on for tonight?"  
  
"Totally." Liz beamed at him. "I'll give you my ultra-deluxe tour of Roswell."  
  
Will stood and sauntered towards the doors, glancing once more over his shoulder before he left. "Nice to meet you Whitman."  
  
Alex didn't reply. He just nodded as he plunked himself down beside Liz, never taking his eyes off Will until the other guy left.  
  
"What a nice guy!" Liz exclaimed as the doors swung shut behind Will. "Wasn't he nice Alex?"  
  
Alex turned his head, regarded Liz seriously. "I don't know Liz. What makes you think so?"  
  
Liz blinked. "I don' t know. There was just something about him."  
  
"Okay Parker, cut the crap." Alex knew he was being abrupt, but he didn't care. His friend was behaving totally unlike herself and he was not going to put up with it a moment longer. He could not endure another morning like the one he had just had. Hell, he couldn't endure another few [I]months[/I] like the ones that had just passed! The alien abyss had a general propensity for angst, but it truly seemed that, ever since she had heard the destiny message after they had all saved Max from Pierce, Liz was bringing a lot of it on herself.  
  
First she had walked away from Max, when clearly it was the last thing Max wanted. Then she had apparently slept with Kyle Valenti, someone Alex [I]knew[/I] Liz didn't care a fig for - well, certainly not as more than a friend. This had only been confirmed by how miserable she had been by the distance between she and Max this morning.  
  
This new guy was just another example of it. Alex Whitman wanted the Liz Parker he knew and loved back and he wasn't going anywhere until she was straight with him.  
  
"What do you mean Alex?" Liz asked, sounding mildly annoyed now. "I'm just telling you what I felt."  
  
"What about Max?" No point in beating around the bush Alex decided. If she was going to be pissed at him, he might as well go for broke. "And what the hell did you mean when you told me and Maria this morning that you slept with Kyle? Liz, that is just not [I]you[/I] and I refuse to believe it actually happened."  
  
It was the wrong tactic though, because as he watched, Liz's face shuttered, effectively shutting him out. "It happened Alex. I made a mistake and I regret that I hurt Max, but it's over and I have to move on. Is it so wrong that I find another boy attractive? I can't ever be with Max anyway and we both know why!" Her voice had lowered to a desperate whisper and, for the first time, Alex truly began to understand how completely devastated his best friend was.  
  
She truly believed that she did not belong with Max Evans and it was killing her.  
  
"Liz." He reached out to take her hand, but she jumped off her stool and turned her back on him.  
  
"I don't want to talk about this ever again Alex. I mean it. Max and I are never getting back together and it's time for me to accept it and move on. And if the rest of you can't deal with that, then I'm just going to have to find new friends."  
  
And with that resounding, metaphorical, slap to his face, Liz stormed through the swinging door into the back, leaving Alex staring after her. 


	4. Chapter 4

[b]Part 4[/b]  
  
"Michael's in shop," Max told Isabel and Tess as he led them down the school corridor towards where his best friend could likely be found. If he wasn't ditching of course, which, knowing Michael, and considering the fact that he presently had a dying Skin ensconced in his apartment, was a distinct possibility.  
  
After returning from Copper Summit, Michael had refused to let Courtney return to her apartment alone. Max had just let it go, knowing that it was only a matter of time until the alien girl disintegrated right out of their lives. He hated to be cavalier about it, but there was no way to help her. Even though Michael had taken her skin, there was no way for her to be transferred to it without the tools in Copper Summit, so it was a moot point anyway.  
  
Michael had understood that they were [i]not[/i] going back there - for [i]any[/i] reason. In return, Max had understood Michael's desire to let her die well, even more when Isabel had told him about Courtney's past life - about how she had followed Michael, or some such nonsense. Max had no concerns that his best friend would betray him - he trusted him implicitly, as apparently he had also done in his past life - and had decided that he could allow him a little lee-way where Courtney was concerned, especially if it was going to appease Michael's conscience about her fate.  
  
Because, with the destruction of the Harvest, there was only one fate to which Courtney was doomed. Death - and likely sooner rather than later. They had destroyed the skins [i]and[/i] the means to transfer their enemies as well. There was no hope for the girl. Max felt bad for her, but it was just the way things were.  
  
"I don't understand why you won't just tell me what this is about Max," Isabel complained as she hurried after him. "I really don't appreciate being hauled out of class with a family emergency like that. I thought something terrible had happened to Mom or Dad."  
  
"I'm sorry Iz," Max replied, "But I couldn't think of any other way to get you out of there and this [i] is[/i] an emergency."  
  
Especially after what happened in Copper Summit, Max reflected grimly. There had been too many terrifying encounters with the Skins recently for him to take potentially recognizing another alien lightly.  
  
He was a king, whether he liked it or not, and he needed to start acting like one. He had never asked for this destiny, but he was beginning to understand that his enemies didn't care about that. They were going to come for he and his loved ones, whether he liked his position or not and, so, they had to be ready. He was responsible for the safety of his sister and for Michael and Tess, especially since Nasedo's death.  
  
And he couldn't pretend that their human allies weren't at risk either. Not anymore. It wouldn't take a lot for them to investigate his life, for them to figure out exactly who and what were important to him. In spite of everything, he could not allow anything to happen to Liz.  
  
He still loved her, needed to make sure she was safe, but he also couldn't let this thing between them mess him up any longer. He wanted to be with her, wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on with her, but he couldn't let it distract him anymore. Distraction was just what their enemies wanted after all. Because, somewhere deep inside him, in spite of their success at destroying the Harvest, despite the respite he felt they had earned, somehow he knew they weren't going to get it.  
  
This was all far from over. Coming face to face with that girl only a short while ago had more than told him so.  
  
"But can't you just tell me?" Isabel demanded. Max didn't bother to answer her. He knew his sister was just being argumentative for the sake of it and decided to ignore her. He knew it was petty, but just because he had decided to abruptly get over his funk, it didn't mean he was in the mood for her nagging. He got enough of that at home.  
  
He knew that it wasn't her fault, that Isabel was merely worried about him, could see something was wrong. But he just [i] couldn't[/i] be the one to tell her about Liz and Kyle, could not bear to see the [i] I told you so[/i] expression on her face, although he knew she would try to hide it.  
  
Plus, he wanted to give Liz as long as she needed to admit to him that none of it was true. Because that's what he was really still hoping was going to happen, even though he was trying to ignore that fact, was trying to get himself to accept that no matter what he may have thought about Liz Parker, he had been [i] wrong[/i]. She was not made for him, was not [i] his[/i].  
  
She wanted normal, had told him so to his face, but he still couldn't let go. A tiny part of him still hoped. And he couldn't take the time to deal with Isabel right now, could not have that tiny hope crushed, especially after Liz's behavior this morning. If that hope was gone, he didn't think he'd be able to go on.  
  
He could hear Izzy huffing in annoyance behind him. Tess hadn't said anything since he had told her that he recognized that girl, but now she was telling Isabel to just get over it, that she could wait to hear what was going on with Michael. He felt a flash of gratitude. As much as Tess annoyed him, he could not deny that ever since they had shared that moment in the park on the worst night of his life, she had done nothing but support him. The part of him that found that gratifying ashamed the rest of him, but he was too used to being constantly questioned and second-guessed by Isabel and Michael to not sort of like it. It didn't mean he was any more attracted to Tess, but it did mean that he didn't dislike her as much as he used to. It was a sick admission to make to himself, but at least he wasn't trying to hide it.  
  
They had reached Michael's class by now, which was more workshop than anything. Max knew Mr. Collins, had been in his class last term. He knew the teacher wouldn't mind them coming in for a moment, as long as they didn't distract the other students.  
  
Unfortunately, they arrived just in time to witness Michael already involved in a discussion with someone else - one that had more than disturbed the class. In fact, it was one that had the attention of every other student, including Maria, who stood near Michael's elbow, looking pained.  
  
".demand an apology!"  
  
"But I didn't [i] do[/i] anything!" Michael was protesting, an irritated note in his voice. "I was calmly standing here talking to my girlfriend. You're the one who bumped into me!"  
  
Max stared at the blond kid yelling at Michael in shock. He didn't recognize him, but the expression on his face.  
  
It was unadulterated hatred - and it was all for Michael.  
  
"It's [i] ruined[/i]!" The blond kid yelled, motioned to something on the floor. Max watched Michael, Maria and Mr. Collins' eyes drop. Michael looked up again and shrugged.  
  
"Listen, I'm sorry. But it wasn't my fault."  
  
"Just like nothing's [i] ever[/i] your fault, I'm sure," the other kid responded through gritted teeth. "Typical."  
  
Michael was now beginning to look angry. Maria was pulling on his arm, trying to draw him away while Mr. Collins told the other kid to cool it or get out.  
  
"Gladly," the blond kid glared at the teacher. He turned on his heel and stomped away.  
  
"What was [i] that[/i] all about Mr. Guerin?" The teacher demanded as Michael's nemesis stormed past Max, Isabel and Tess, almost knocking Tess over in the process. Max flinched slightly when she reached out and grabbed his hand to steady herself. He looked back at Michael and the others just in time to catch Maria's eyes on him. She scowled at his hand where it was linked with Tess, then at him, then away.  
  
Max sighed, gently disentangling himself from Tess. He didn't understand how [i] he[/i] always ended up feeling like the ass. He wasn't the one who had walked away from Liz, nor was he the one who had randomly slept with someone else - although he wasn't sure if Maria even knew about that. But, still, it was the principle of the matter! Why was everyone always mad at [i] him?[/i]  
  
He was about ready to go somewhere and throw a real pit party for himself, he reflected ruefully as he watched Mr. Collins finish getting Michael's side of the story, finally allowing Max's best friend to join then just as the bell rang.  
  
"Who the heck was that?" Isabel asked as Michael approached, Maria trailing behind, her expression now inscrutable. Max looked at her for a moment, wondered what she was thinking. She was looking at [i] him[/i] very strangely again. Max was almost tempted to look down to see if his shirt was buttoned correctly.  
  
"I have no idea." Michael thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans, clearly perplexed. "Mr. Collins doesn't even think that guy is in this class."  
  
Max narrowed his eyes. "Weird." He shrugged. "You handled that well though Michael." He didn't know why he said it, but he really thought it. Michael's temper was becoming much steadier lately and Max didn't want him to think it was going unnoticed. He was taking his role as Max's second-in- command seriously. There had been no more hare-brained schemes, any more necessity of having Valenti bail him out of jail. It was one load off Max's mind at least.  
  
"Thanks Dad," Michael retorted, sounding embarrassed, but pleased. Max saw Maria reach forward, take Michael's hand in her and squeeze. Max felt a flash of jealousy so intense, he momentarily had to look away.  
  
It was all a supreme mystery to him why no one seemed to think it was strange that Michael and Maria were drifting back together, in spite of all that destiny crap and, yet, he and Liz couldn't. It just wasn't fair. Because somewhere inside him, Max was beginning to understand that whatever Liz had done with Kyle, it wasn't because she didn't love [i] him[/i], Max. Her misery that morning in Bio had more than proven it. She had done what she had done to drive him to Tess, she thought for his own good. The more he thought about it, the more he knew it had to be true, because hadn't she been helping Tess right before it happened? Hadn't he caught her in Whittaker's office spying on him while she and Tess had been conspiring to make him fall for her?  
  
That she would do that to herself.It made him furious - at himself. He had brought her to that - to giving up her virginity to someone she didn't even love because he had refused to leave her alone. But couldn't any of them see that he just couldn't turn to Tess, that he would be betraying his own heart? He didn't love her. Why didn't any of them get it?  
  
As he had told Liz only a couple of weeks ago - although with all that had happened since it felt like years - Tess just [i] wasn't[/i] Liz. He was never going to love anyone like he loved Liz. He couldn't even explain it to himself, but no matter what she did, he would always love her. He had loved her from the first moment he had set eyes on her and being with her last spring, even if for such a short time, had more than reinforced what he already knew.  
  
They were made for each other. They complimented each other in every way. He would never love anyone else, no matter what she did. She was right in Copper Summit when she told him that he put her on a pedestal. He knew she wasn't perfect. She could be stubborn to the point of seriously frustrating him. She worried too much about others. But he didn't care about any of that, because in [i] his[/i] eyes, she [i] was[/i] perfect. She could break the damn pedestal for all he cared - which he was beginning to see she had been trying to with Kyle - he would still think she was perfect.  
  
He loved her. It was as simple as that. And if it made him a pathetic fool, well, so be it. He [i] knew[/i] that he and Tess weren't meant to be, no matter what Nasedo had said, no matter what some stupid book had said.  
  
No matter what Liz said.  
  
But Liz had been so desperate to make him face it, what she thought [i] she[/i] knew had to be, she had completely destroyed herself. Ironic that. For the past week, he had felt like he had been the one who had shattered, but now he understood that it had been Liz. He could forgive her for sleeping with Kyle for his own sake, but he didn't know if he'd ever be able to get past it for [i] hers[/i]. She had taken all her dreams and had thrown them away to make Max embrace something he didn't even want. It was just plain ludicrous.  
  
Max knew that he had to talk to Liz again - soon. He had to tell her all of this, had to reassure her that he would leave her alone if that's what she wanted but that he was in no way, shape or form going to turn to Tess just because of what had happened between she and Kyle. Even if it was what Liz wanted. He could be stubborn too.  
  
He also knew that he just [i] couldn't[/i]. It was impossible and he knew it was wrong. Because everything he had felt in his heart for the past year - for the past [i] ten[/i] years - had [i] not[/i] been a lie. No matter what happened, she was still Liz and he still loved her. He would never stop.  
  
"Excuse me? Your highness?" Isabel's sarcastic tone penetrated Max's thoughts, making him blink. "Your court is assembled. Can we please know what this is about now?"  
  
"Oh." Max shook his head, ignored the concerned look Tess was sending him. "Sorry."  
  
"What the hell is going on with you lately Maxwell?" Michael demanded. "You're zoning in and out all the time these days. Are you high?" Max rolled his eyes as his best friend scowled at him.  
  
"I'm sure he has a lot on his mind." This came from Maria, startling Max because the tone she employed was sympathetic. He looked at her and suddenly understood that she [i] knew[/i]. She knew what Liz had done and she felt sorry for him. "It's why I came to see you Michael," Maria went on. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you before that weirdo freaked out." She continued to stare at Max, her brow knit. "There's something seriously wrong with Liz."  
  
Max felt his heart stop. "What do you mean?" Was there something going on with Liz besides the disaster of her throwing away her virginity just to push [i] him[/i] away?  
  
"I think you know Max," Maria replied. "She told me and Alex this morning what she did. I don't buy it. Something is seriously wrong!"  
  
"What did Liz do?" Michael asked, his face turning from Max to Maria.  
  
"She slept with Kyle," Tess inserted. Max guessed that she was trying to be helpful but was annoyed anyway.  
  
"She did [i] not[/i]!" Maria screeched, outraged. "I [i] know[/i] she didn't! Max, [i] you[/i] know she didn't. Something's wrong with her." She glared at Tess.  
  
"She [i] did[/i] Maria! She told me so herself!" Tess flared back. "She totally betrayed Max."  
  
"Well." Maria spluttered. "I know there's more to it! She's not acting like herself at all. Alex and I think she's being mindwarped."  
  
"[i] What?[/i]" Tess shrieked. "What are you suggesting Deluca?"  
  
"You heard me trollop," Maria returned evenly. "None of this would be happening if you had never shown your face here. And we [i] all[/i] know you've done it before. Right Max?"  
  
"[i] Whoa![/i]" Max stepped between the two girls. Michael had his arm firmly wrapped around Maria by now, although Max couldn't tell if it was to warn her off or to keep her from physically attacking Tess. Isabel had grabbed the curly-haired blonde by the arm, but was staring at Max, her expression horrified.  
  
"Max, is this true? Are you okay?"  
  
"Of course he's not okay," Tess snarled. "He's the one who found them together."  
  
"Because [i] you[/i] made Liz do it! You or that new guy. Hey! I'll bet you're working [i] together![/i]" Maria cried triumphantly, as though the thought had just occurred to her.  
  
"Max, why didn't you tell me?" Isabel's eyes were filling with tears, although Max couldn't tell if it was because she was hurt for [i] him[/i] or for herself because both Tess and Maria knew about this before her.  
  
Max sighed heavily. "Enough you guys," he said quietly, trying to make his voice as firm as possible. "This is not the time or the place." He regretted even coming here. He was suddenly exhausted - until what Maria had said about the new guy suddenly penetrated his weary brain.  
  
"[i] What[/i] about the new guy?" He asked abruptly. Maria was still stewing, but she raised her head to look at him. "The guy Liz left Bio with?" He had been trying [i] not[/i] to think about that guy. Kyle more than enough at the moment after all.  
  
"Well, yeah," Maria replied, frowning at him. "Don't you think it's weird that she never came back Max?"  
  
"[i] Another[/i] new guy?" Michael interrupted, sounding as tired as Max felt.  
  
"And a new [i] girl[/i]," Max added pensively, thinking about the reason that he had sought out Michael and Isabel in the first place.  
  
"Are you all saying that there are [i] three[/i] new students?" Isabel's voice was raised in disbelief. "In [i] Roswell[/i]? No one [i] ever[/i] moves here!"  
  
"We need to find Liz," Max told the others grimly. "[i] Now[/i]." He gut was suddenly churning with worry. "Alex too. I don't like this at all."  
  
"Why Max?" Tess sounded disdainful. "Who cares if she's found someone new?"  
  
Max eyed her in annoyance. "[i] I[/i] care," he snapped. "I told you Tess.I [i] knew[/i] that girl."  
  
"Max," Isabel whispered, sounding terrified. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Just what I said," Max told her impatiently. "I [i] knew[/i] her. She's like us and my guess is, so are these two guys. Which means that Liz is alone with a strange alien and she doesn't even know it. And there can only be one reason for it," he added over his shoulder as he hurried out of the classroom and towards the parking lot, his group of friends on his heels. "They're going to try to get me through [i] her[/i]." 


	5. Chapter 5

[b]Part 5[/b]  
  
Liz was not immediately sorry for what she had said to Alex. She was too upset and confused, as she stormed up the stairs to her family's apartment, for that to occur.  
  
It wasn't until she had slammed her bedroom door and her eyes went instantly to the photo of she, Alex and Maria sitting on her vanity that she even understood the completely unfair nature of what she had told her best friend.  
  
He was only worried about her. She [I]knew[/I] she wasn't acting like herself. How could she even pretend to be the Liz Alex knew and loved when she didn't even know who that was anymore? She was living a lie, because of what Future Max had asked her to do, and it wasn't just affecting [I]her[/I] or Max anymore. It affected everyone she cared about - including Alex, who had every right to wonder what was going on with her.  
  
After all, the last time she had behaved so weirdly around him, she had been hiding a secret - the truth about Max, Michael and Isabel - that was almost too big for her to deal with on her own. It had been too hard. She had felt overwhelmed by the three of them, knowing that Max would never hurt her, but certainly not knowing the same about Isabel or Michael. It was why she had had to tell Maria the truth and, then, Alex. It had balanced things out, had made it three and three, had made it so that she could cope. Max had Michael and Isabel to depend on and she had Alex and Maria. Because what had been happening between Max and Liz had just been too big for them not to need people to lean on - too all-encompassing.  
  
It had been so right and, yet, so frightening at the same time, and, now, Liz knew why. What she and Max had set in motion the day they first connected had been the beginning of the end of the world. A countdown had started that day - fifteen years to go.  
  
Maybe that knowledge had been there for both of them from the start, on some deeper level, and they had just ignored it, too wrapped up in the way the made each other feel. Maybe it was why Max had tried so hard to stay away from her at first. Maybe it was why she had walked away from him at the pod chamber that day.  
  
Whatever.  
  
Liz sighed heavily, flopped back on her bed. The point of all this was that Alex had been there for her through it all, even when he hadn't known the truth. It was more than she could even say for Maria, who had been there largely for Michael after a while - in fact, almost from the very beginning. Not that Liz begrudged Maria that.But Alex had remained [I]her[/I] friend first and foremost, behind [I]Liz[/I] through it all, even in spite of his connection to Isabel.  
  
Liz knew that if Alex ever had to choose between she and Isabel, he would pick Liz. She didn't know if that would be the case with Maria anymore, not that Liz could fault her best friend for that. Hadn't she picked Max over Alex for a long time? But Liz had to be honest with herself about Maria. She was so tangled up with Michael, had even bonded with Max over the summer. Maria would stay loyal to the aliens now, even if Liz didn't. Liz even understood.  
  
She knew what it was like to love someone with your whole soul after all.  
  
But this pertinent fact was also why Liz couldn't tell Maria the truth about Future Max. Maria would try to convince her that just telling Max the whole story would fix everything. Maria would not understand that if Max knew the truth, Liz knew he would never rest until they got back together, which would still result in Tess leaving and would still bring on the end of the world. Maria would think that love could conquer all. Because wasn't that what was happening to Michael and Maria? In spite of all of his protestations that they couldn't be together, Michael and Maria [I]were[/I] together in every way that counted.  
  
Liz knew the truth though. Love could not conquer Tess Harding. Michael and Maria had the luxury that Isabel didn't want to be with Michael any more than Michael wanted to be with her. Isabel wouldn't leave. Isabel was bonded to Max just as closely as she was to Michael and would never betray either of them.  
  
The same could not be said for Tess. Tess wanted Max. He was [I]all[/I] she wanted. She didn't care at all about the rest of them Liz knew. It was why she had so readily believed Future Max that Tess would leave. If she couldn't have Max, Tess would want nothing to do with the rest of them.  
  
And they would all die as a consequence of it.  
  
It was why Liz couldn't tell Maria the truth.  
  
But, a small voice was beginning to prod her, she [I]could[/I] tell Alex. Alex, who loved Isabel, but who was beginning to accept that she would never love him in the same way. Alex, who was Liz's best friend first and stayed connected to the Czechs for her sake. Liz knew that Alex had a good sense of himself that he would not stay lost in the alien abyss if Isabel didn't want him. He would never tell their secret, but Liz knew that he could move on without any of them. He had never really bonded with either Max or Michael and he would never stick around to feel humiliated and hurt by Isabel. Liz knew that he was still hanging in there because of [I]her[/I].and Maria of course. He was watching out for their interests, was trying to keep them safe.  
  
And, so, maybe she could tell Alex and she wouldn't feel so alone.  
  
[I]You're not alone. You'll [/I] never[I] be alone.[/I]  
  
Liz sat up abruptly, her heart in her throat, as the voice suddenly filled her head. It had sounded like he was standing right next to her but, as her eyes darted around the room frantically - fearfully - she could see that she was still the only one in her room.  
  
[I]You're imagining things,[/I] she told herself. But she brought her arms up, wrapped them around her middle to suppress the shiver that ran through her.  
  
Because she had recognized that voice. It was as familiar to her as her own - as familiar as Max's, his being the only voice that had ever touched her in the way the voice she had just heard had.  
  
It was that fact alone that told her who the voice belonged to, who it was that had reached out to her across whatever distance separated them.  
  
"Will."  
  
Liz closed her eyes and reached out for him, tentatively, but no longer afraid. Somehow she just [I]knew[/I] that he would never hurt her.  
  
She was not at all surprised when she simply [I]found[/I] him, so easily it was as though she had just called him on the phone.  
  
[I]Liz.[/I]  
  
It went beyond anything she had ever experienced with anyone. So clear, so right.  
  
So [I]not[/I] right!  
  
The thought slammed into her as her unseeing eyes suddenly focused on the set of pictures tucked into the mirror across the room. She and Max, smiling, laughing.  
  
Meant to be.  
  
Common sense returned to her instantly. The minute her eyes focused on Max's beloved face, smiling, trusting, [I]loving[/I] her.  
  
What the heck was wrong with her?  
  
[I]Liz?[/I] She could feel the question in his tone, the concern. He seemed to somehow [I]know[/I] that he was losing her.  
  
"I.I can't! Please! Just leave me alone!" With that, she slammed her mind shut. She jumped to her feet and hurried out the door.  
  
She knew now that something was not right with the new boy, that they had [I]not[/I] just made a random connection that morning. He was obviously not normal, had to be an alien. How else could he have done what he had just done?  
  
And he had sought [I]her[/I] out. There was no question. Which could only mean that he was Max's enemy. Which made him [I]her[/I] enemy. Because, no matter what happened between the two of them, even if he never knew it again, she would [I]always[/I] side with Max.  
  
But, because of Tess, because the current state of affairs between them was still so new and raw, he was not the one she could go to now, Liz realized as she practically ran back towards the school. She could not be near him right now. Neither of them could handle it if that morning had been any indication. As heart breaking as it was, Max might not even [I]believe[/I] her.  
  
He thought she had betrayed him, that she had lied about everything that she had ever said to him. Why [I]should[/I] he believe her? It was so far- fetched, so crazy. Why would his enemies try to get to Max through her? She was an insignificant human. If anyone, it was Tess they wanted. Hadn't Whittaker already proven that once? They thought it was Tess he loved, Tess he would fight for.  
  
For all Liz knew, that [I]was[/I] really the case now anyway. But she also knew that she was right. The new boy was trouble and Max had to know. She ignored the pang of disappointment that it was true - that the first person she had actually considered getting to know since falling into the alien abyss, turned out to be totally using her.  
  
She shook her head, trying to clear it of the memory of Will's clear blue eyes. They had been so guileless, so sincere, so completely focused on her.  
  
But, then, Tess had seemed innocent at first too. And, while she had not turned out to be their enemy (well, not Max's anyway), it was highly unlikely the same thing would prove true twice.  
  
If Will Spencer could communicate telepathically, he was an alien. Plain and simple. And Max had to know, plain and simple.  
  
She needed an intermediary.  
  
There was only one person she trusted to make sure that Max believed it.  
  
Isabel.  
  
And there was only one way to get to Isabel - particularly if Max's sister had heard about Kyle and Liz, which she must have by now.  
  
Alex.  
  
Liz's relief was like a boulder had been lifted off of her shoulders. Because now she had the excuse she needed to tell Alex at least part of the truth. She would help her figure this out.  
  
She wouldn't be alone anymore.  
  
[I]You're not alone.[/I]  
  
The memory of Will's voice sent another shiver down Liz's spine.  
  
She ran faster.  
  
Kate waited for her brother on the sidewalk outside the Crashdown.  
  
He was speaking to the girl Jack was [I]sure[/I] was Rowena, another boy hovering over her, staring at Will suspiciously. He looked familiar, that boy. It took her a moment, but she finally placed him as the guy who had almost tripped over her following her encounter with Zan.  
  
He was friends with Liz Parker? It was almost [I]too[/I] coincidental. Kate frowned slightly, moved deliberately so that Will would notice her.  
  
Will's eyes met hers through the glass and he seemed to wrap up his conversation, because moments later he was through the door and at her side. They started walking, both in silent agreement that they wouldn't discuss what Will had done until they were sure they were alone.  
  
"There's a park down the road," Kate told him after a few minutes.  
  
"Okay."  
  
She glanced at Will curiously out of the corner of her eye. He looked pensive and, if she was not mistaken, a little sad. Kate bit her lip, hoping that Rowena had not hurt him. He had been waiting for her for so long, never giving up hope that they would find her, even when it had seemed unlikely, if not impossible. When they had lost her in the Crash, it had seemed as though Will was doomed to repeat the tragedy of their past lives - that he would never have the chance to be with the girl he loved.  
  
They finally reached the park. Kate was about ready to jump out of her skin, the questions for her brother piling up in her mind. "Well?"  
  
"It's her." It was a simple reply, but the emotion in his tone more than reflected how deeply he had been affected by his encounter with the dark- haired girl named Liz.  
  
"How could you tell?"  
  
"Her eyes. They haven't changed a bit. It is [I]definitely[/I] her."  
  
Kate remembered how she had recognized Zan immediately by his eyes as well. Interesting.  
  
"Did she know you?"  
  
There was a long pause. Kate looked at Will, worried for him. If she hadn't.It was going to break his heart. "I.I think she [I]knew[/I] me. There was a connection."  
  
"But she didn't recognize you for sure," Kate pressed.  
  
"No." Will let out a long sigh, slumped down onto a bench they were passing.  
  
"Oh Will."  
  
"But, it's not what you think," Will continued. "I don't think she even knows who she is. I don't think she even knows she's not human."  
  
Kate frowned. "How can that be? That's impossible Will!"  
  
Will rubbed a hand across his face. "I don't know Kate. I've been thinking.What if Ro was taken out of her pod too early? I mean, it would make sense, particularly if it was damaged."  
  
Kate felt her eyes widen. "You mean."  
  
"It wouldn't have had time to prepare her completely," Will said. "It makes sense. Our human half was the first to develop after all, then the alien, then our memories of our past life. If she was taken out too early."  
  
"She might be more human than anything." The enormity of this hit Kate squarely in the ribs. She collapsed beside her brother. "If that's true Will, then she's of no use to us!" And she wasn't. Without her powers, Rowena could not complete their Four Square. Zan would win.  
  
Will's head whipped around and he glared at her. "She's [I]still[/I] Rowena! It doesn't make one shred of difference whether she has gifts or not. Her soul is the same."  
  
Kate stared at her brother. "I know it Will. I'm not saying I won't still love her, that you shouldn't. What I am saying is that she won't be able to help us." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You weren't looking for her to help us at all though, were you?"  
  
"No." His voice cracked and he buried his face in his hands. "I [I]need[/I] her. I can't do [I]any[/I] of this without her. Not any longer. Not now that I know she's still here."  
  
Kate grimaced. She had never seen her brother break down, not even in the first days after Rowena's death in their past life. He was always so strong. It wasn't until this moment that she realized that he had remained strong because of the hope that he would find his true love again. That if he endured, they would earn the right to be together.  
  
And now Rowena did not remember him. She did not even remember who she was.  
  
Not used to comforting him, Kate awkwardly brought her arm up around his shoulders and patted him lightly. "We can make her remember Will."  
  
They say in silence for a moment longer. Kate didn't know what else to say to make her brother feel better. She didn't like him like this. It scared her. He was always the strong one, the one who led. What if this thing with Rowena affected him to the point that he couldn't function? What if [I]she[/I] had to lead?  
  
She needed to snap Will out of this, immediately if not sooner.  
  
"I saw Zan." She said it bluntly, expecting the reaction she got.  
  
"[I]What?[/I]" Will's head raised and he looked at her in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"I went to the school to find you," Kate admitted. "I ran into him." She grimaced. "Literally. I.I think he recognized me."  
  
"Oh hell! Kate! There goes the advantage of surprise. What the hell were you thinking?" Will demanded, jumping to his feet.  
  
"What were [I]you[/I] thinking?" Kate countered. "We agreed we wouldn't seek Ro out until we had the granolith in our possession. And, then, the first think you do once we reach this town is seek her out? How bright was that move?"  
  
"I couldn't help it," Will grumbled. "I just.I just had to see her, had to make sure." He sighed, started pacing. "Well, tell me."  
  
"He's definitely playing up the normal teenage boy angle," Kate admitted. "Nicholas was right about that. I never thought that Zan would be able to mask his arrogance enough to pull it off, but he has."  
  
"Hmmmmm." Will looked thoughtful. "I never did get a chance to ask Liz about her connection to Zan." He paused. "I guess we should get used to calling them by their Earth names. Max Evans." The name rolled off Will's tongue like a curse. "Well, this just means we're going to have to speed things up."  
  
"I guess. Do you think the others will be as easy to sniff out?"  
  
"Likely. Hiding in plain sight. It's actually pretty smart," Will admitted grudgingly. "I don't know why our protectors never thought of it."  
  
Kate knew exactly what he was talking about. They had been well hidden in the countryside until the disaster at Copper Summit, their protectors feeling it unwise that they become too attached to the world of humans since they were not destined to stay on Earth for any great length of time. Their people had been sent out far and wide in search of Zan and the others. They hadn't even known that they had been found until they were called to Arizona.  
  
Their protectors had been in Copper Summit for the Harvest. They had been amongst the first to die when it failed. Kate knew that there were still many Skins alive, but it was only a matter of time until their protective sheathes gave out, until the three of them were all alone on this planet. For the first time, she regretted ever wishing they could have had more freedom, that they were not so dependent on others.  
  
Now they had all the freedom in the universe and they were screwing it up already.  
  
But they [I]had[/I] found Rowena. That was something at least.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Kate asked now, trying to mask her fear.  
  
It didn't take her long to realize that Will wasn't even listening to her though. He had a strange expression on his face. He was staring off into the distance and clearly wasn't at all focused on her. Kate stared at him. "Will?"  
  
"She's crying. I just.I felt her." He sounded amazed. "She's.she's lonely." He closed his eyes, seemed to be concentrating even harder.  
  
"Will!"  
  
His eyes snapped open. He looked disappointed. "She shut me out."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Rowena of course."  
  
"You just connected with her?" Kate blinked. "Without even trying?"  
  
He smiled, suddenly smug. "It's Ro. I just [I]felt[/I] her."  
  
Kate scowled. He knew she had always been jealous of how easily Rowena had been able to connect with people in their past life. It was her special gift, one which they could all access, but not like Ro. Ro had just understood others and, so, it has always been easy for her. It was why she had been such a great queen.  
  
"So if she connected with you."  
  
"It means she can still access her powers." Will finished. He looked at Kate again. "There's only one thing to do Kate."  
  
Kate felt her heart start to beat more quickly. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like this at all.  
  
"We're going to tell her the truth." 


	6. Chapter 6

[u]Part 6[/u]  
  
Alex went back to school. He didn't quite know what else to do after Liz's little blow-up and so he simply went to class, pretended that nothing had happened.  
  
He thought about finding Maria, thought about telling his other best friend what had happened, what Liz had said, but he knew that it would only upset Maria. And, somehow, he knew that Liz had not meant it, that she would apologize as soon as she calmed down.  
  
There was now no question that she was hiding something though - and it worried him, big time. He remembered how difficult it had been for her to keep Max's secret from him last fall. By the time she had finally told him the truth, when they had both been in jail after the bust at the rave, she had been practically hysterical. It was not a part of Liz Parker's nature to lie.  
  
And now she was lying to [I]everyone[/I] she had always depended on. At least that last time she had had Maria to confide in, and Max. Now she had absolutely no one. Which made Alex even more suspicious of this Will character. He knew that he had not imagined the possessiveness on that other guy's face during their brief interaction at the Crashdown. There was something just [I]off[/I] with that guy. Was he trying to take advantage of an obviously needy girl? It sure seemed that way to Alex.  
  
So why did Alex not seek out Maria, or even Max and the others? Why was he keeping this to himself?  
  
He had absolutely no idea, which was the most upsetting part of all. Had that guy done something to [I]him[/I] as well? Was Maria right? Was he a mind-warping maniac and was he already sucking Alex's brains out, slowly but surely? He knew it was a paranoid thought, but he had heard all about the disintegrating aliens in Copper Summit from Maria only the night before on the phone. Brain-suckers didn't seem quite so farfetched any longer.  
  
Which was why he was currently staring at the algebra equations on the overhead at the front of the class, completely lost, and also trying to decide if he [I]felt[/I] like his brains had been sucked. Despite his preoccupation, it had not escaped his notice that the only other member of their group who was in this math section with him - Isabel - was absent. He wondered briefly where she was. It wasn't like her to miss school.  
  
"Er, I don't suppose you have an extra pencil?"  
  
Alex blinked, turned to stare at the blond kid sitting next to him in surprise. He blinked again when he realized that he'd never seen the guy before in his life, which was a rare occurrence in Roswell. "Huh?"  
  
"Pencil? Mine just broke." The kid held up his writing instrument and indeed the lead at the end was merely hanging on by a thread.  
  
Alex stared at him. "Oh, yeah, sure." He reached into his back-pack, pulled out a pencil for his neighbour.  
  
"Thanks." The kid sighed in relief. "I didn't really want to go up to the front to sharpen it. Everyone's staring at me enough today.you know, being new and all."  
  
"Right." Another new kid? What the hell? And, yet, it went against Alex's nature to be deliberately rude. It was extremely unlikely that every new face he encountered was an alien after all. He still had no proof that Will was an alien either! "I'm Alex by the way. Welcome to Roswell."  
  
"Thanks." The other boy met his gaze squarely. "I'm Jack. It's nice to meet you." He grimaced. "Can I just tell you, you're the first person to actually [I]speak[/I] to me today? Thanks for that."  
  
"Oh, well." Alex shrugged. This kid was kind of weird. What normal guy went around thanking others for being nice? But, then, Alex wasn't exactly your typical teenager either, so he wouldn't hold it against Jack. "Where are you from?" He decided he could afford to be a little friendly. It would keep his mind off the Liz dilemma, at least for the moment.  
  
"Arizona," Jack replied. "Not too far away, but if feels like a million miles."  
  
"Well, I've lived in Roswell all my life and you're not the first person to feel like they've beamed into another planet," Alex told him wryly. "It can get a little creepy around here, with all the UFO tourists and stuff."  
  
"I'd guess so," Jack grinned. "So, do you know any aliens?"  
  
Alex did his best not to snort. "Sometimes I think so," he replied non- committally. [I]Sometimes I wish I didn't[/I] was what he was [I]really[/I] thinking.  
  
He shook his head, pushing the disloyal thought aside. In spite of the regular havoc wreaked on his life by is plunge into the alien abyss, he had to admit to himself that he wouldn't trade the knowledge he had now for anything in the world. An image of Isabel, in all her glacial beauty, flashed through his mind, distracting him. It made him tired to even think about her though. Things were so far from where he wanted them.  
  
And, yet, it didn't hurt nearly as much as it had only yesterday. He wondered why, frowned slightly when he realized that, apart from his worry about Liz, he had also been thinking about that mysterious girl from this morning - the one he had almost tripped over.  
  
Interesting..  
  
It took him a moment to realize that Jack was still talking. "See that chick?" He said quietly, discreetly nodding in the direction of the girl at the front of the class. "She's in two of my classes and if she's [I]not[/I] an alien, I don't know who is."  
  
Alex [I]did[/I] snort this time. "That's Pam Troy," he replied in an undertone. "And you know how to pick them buddy."  
  
They passed the rest of the class in a very enjoyable game of making fun of the rest of the students around them. It wasn't Alex's usual style, but Jack had a wicked sense of humour that brought out his devilish side. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had so much fun.  
  
When the bell finally rang, Alex realized that he had wasted the entire period. Not only did he have no idea what he was supposed to do for homework, but he still hadn't figured out what he was going to do about Liz. He felt a bit guilty about it, but didn't regret the fact that he had made a new kid a little more comfortable.  
  
Of course, the concern all came pouring back when he found Liz waiting for him in the hallway, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other. Alex met her gaze, raised an eyebrow questioningly. Liz's eyes filled with tears, causing Alex's heart to break.  
  
".headed off to the caf. Do you have lunch this period?" Jack was saying beside him. He seemed to notice that he had lost Alex's attention though and stopped talking, following his gaze.  
  
"I have to go," Alex told him quietly. "See you tomorrow Jack. It was nice to meet you." He walked right over to Liz, took her hand and led her into the Eraser Room, which happened to be right across the hall.  
  
The instant the door shut behind them, Liz threw her arms around him and started to sob. "I'm so sorry Alex." At least he thought that was what she said. It was a little hard to tell with all the hiccuping.  
  
He pulled her against him, stroked her hair soothingly. "It's okay Lizzie. It's okay." After several moments, when he felt her finally calming down, Alex stepped back, placed his hands firmly on her shoulders. "Okay, are you ready to tell me what the hell's going on with you?"  
  
Liz sniffled, her eyes still shining. "Yes. I can't keep this to myself any longer. I just [I]can't[/I]." He could see her spine straightening, even as she said it. "But you have to promise me you won't tell [I]anyone[/I]."  
  
Alex frowned. "Can you guarantee me that your life isn't in danger? Because if you can't, then I cannot promise. Max and Michael and the others are better equipped to protect you than I am. Even Valenti's better equipped." He could not get the image of Will Spencer's eyes out of his brain, which was why he asked. That proprietary air Alex had seen when it came to Liz.It sent a shiver down Alex's spine even now.  
  
Liz scowled at him. "Max is the [I]last[/I] person who can know!" She exclaimed. "And if you don't promise me Alex, I'm not going to tell you."  
  
"Liz."  
  
"Alex!" She moved towards the door, clearly ready to leave. He knew that it was the last thing he could allow.  
  
"Fine," he sighed, knowing it was a mistake, but also knowing that she knew him too well. He had promised and now the ball was in her court. They were playing this Liz's way.  
  
Liz closed her eyes, sagged against the door in relief. "Thank you," she whispered. "Alex, I swear, I don't think I'm in any [I]physical[/I] danger." And he could see from the expression on her face that she truly didn't. He breathed easier.  
  
But wait a minute. There were other kinds of danger.mental, emotional.  
  
"Is this about that Will guy?" Alex demanded.  
  
Liz stared at him. "Well, yes, sort of. How did you know?"  
  
"I didn't like him. He creeped me out," Alex told her truthfully. "They way he was acting around you."  
  
"It was like he [I]knew[/I] me," Liz finished for him, looking distant again.  
  
"Well, that's not exactly what I was going to say," Alex replied. "He looked like he thought he [I]owned[/I] you."  
  
Liz frowned. "What? Really?" She sounded disbelieving.  
  
Alex folded his arms. "Yes, [I]really[/I]."  
  
"Weird." Liz was pensive for a moment and then she said, "He connected with me."  
  
Alex felt his heart start to pound. "Like as in [I]alien[/I] connect? As in what you and Max do?"  
  
A spasm of grief crossed Liz's face before she whispered, "Yes."  
  
"So he's an alien."  
  
"I think so." Liz took his hand pleadingly. "I need you to go and tell Isabel so that she can tell Max. They need to know about this."  
  
Alex raised an eyebrow. So, finally, they were at the crux of the matter. "Why can't you tell Max yourself - or Isabel?"  
  
Liz sighed. "Because I don't think Isabel would believe me, not anymore, but she would believe you." She paused, seemed to take a deep breath. "And Max and I aren't really talking right now. You know." She trailed off, pained.  
  
"Because of the Kyle thing."  
  
Liz swallowed, her face white. "Right. The Kyle thing."  
  
"Are you going to tell me the truth about that?" Alex asked gently, squeezing her hand.  
  
Her voice cracked as she struggled to reply. "I want to.[I]so[/I] badly Alex. But I promised him I wouldn't tell [I]anyone[/I]."  
  
"Who? Kyle?" Alex had been wondering if approaching Kyle was the answer to all of this, but he had put it off, still hoping that Liz would confide in him on her own. Now he was glad that he hadn't spoken to the other guy. Because if Kyle had blown the whole thing off, which it sounded like he had if he wanted Liz to keep it a secret, then Alex could not be held responsible for his actions. If Michael Guerin had been shocked to find himself on the wrong end of Alex's fist the week before, Kyle would not [I]survive[/I] the meeting.  
  
"No, not Kyle," Liz sighed. "Max."  
  
"Max didn't want you to tell anyone that you slept with Kyle?" Alex asked, confused. "I don't get it."  
  
"Not [I]my[/I] Max," Liz explained patiently. "Future Max."  
  
Alex stared at her. "Pardon me?"  
  
Liz was breathing unevenly, had her hands clenched in front of her. "I'm going to tell you Alex, but I need you to promise [I]again[/I] that you won't tell [I]anyone[/I]. Not even Maria."  
  
"Maria's worried about you Liz," Alex said, although he was really thinking about the cryptic statement [I]Future Max[/I]. Was Liz losing her marbles as well as her morals?  
  
"She can't know Alex," Liz told him firmly. "She just [I]can't[/I]. Not until I know everything's okay and I know that Max is doing what he's supposed to do."  
  
"You mean Future Max?"  
  
"No, [I]my[/I] Max!"  
  
The way she said that - [I]my[/I] Max - Alex could hear how much she still loved her ex-boyfriend in that simple pronoun, which only made the whole situation in which they currently found themselves more ludicrous. Which was why he needed to know the truth. So that he could help his best friend and so that she could be happy. Because, without Max, he just knew that she would never [I]be[/I] happy.  
  
Lord knew that he had always had a crush on Isabel, that it had been the best time of his life back in the Spring, when she had decided that she wanted to be with him, but their relationship had [I]never[/I] been like what Max and Liz shared.  
  
Max and Liz.  
  
What they had been to each other had been otherworldly - and, no he was not trying to make a pun. Their love for each other was almost something mystical. And it wasn't just the alien thing either - because Michael and Maria loved each other too, but they certainly were not like Max and Liz. Alex had never been jealous of it though, had never expected that he would find the same thing. It had been, rather, almost gratifying to be a part of it at all, to see two people who were so right for each other come together, to see them make each other come to life like that. Alex loved Liz and he had been happy for her, and it didn't hurt that he actually thought Max was a good guy, even if they didn't know each other very well.  
  
It had made it even clearer to Alex that what he had with Isabel was nowhere near the same thing. And, he suddenly realized, he [I]wanted[/I] what Max and Liz had, even if he was unsure that he [I]could[/I] have it, that maybe a love that [I]burned[/I] like that was only for a lucky few.  
  
For the past few weeks he had been wondering if maybe he could still share something with Isabel, but since she had started dating Grant Sorenson, hope was dwindling. If she could go out with someone like that bohunk, she would never be happy with someone like Alex. He was tired of being second best.  
  
And, yet, even now that he was beginning to understand that Izzy would never see him as more than a good friend, he wasn't too choked up about it. It was disappointing, but he knew that he could move on eventually. He was ready to crawl out of the alien abyss, once and for all. He could be a part of the secret without having it make every decision for him, without having to build his life around it.It made his heart jump a bit to think about the possibility.  
  
But as long as Liz was miserable, he was stuck. Because he could not leave her like this. And, so, he was going to have to understand exactly what the hell "Future Max" meant and why his best friend seemed to be losing her mind, because the whole sleeping with Kyle angle seemed to indicate that even more strongly than the babble about Future Maxes.  
  
Alex sighed wearily. He [I]wanted[/I] out. He had never seen it more clearly than he did in that instant. And it made him sad. But it was time to move on with his life - because as long as he was attached to the aliens, he would forever be linked with Isabel. It was just the way the cookie crumbled in their little band. Alien with human. Max with Liz. Michael with Maria. Even Tess and Kyle were becoming synonymous in his mind.  
  
Which left [I]Alex and Isabel[/I]. Which also gave the explanation for why he had performed that humiliating striptease at her birthday weeks before. He had thought that if he reminded her how he could make her laugh, how he would do [I]anything[/I] for her, she would wake up and realize that they should be together.  
  
But she hadn't. As far as he knew, she was still dating Grant, and he was tired of doing all the work. There were plenty of fish in the sea! In fact, hadn't a new goddess almost tripped over him just that morning?  
  
He remembered that girl easily, with her long curly hair and her cryptic statements. She had reminded him of Isabel, had [I]definitely[/I] been his type. Maybe [I]she[/I]would turn out to be [I]his[/I] soulmate.  
  
The thought of soul mates snapped him back to reality with a crash. What the hell was he doing, worrying about his love life, when his best friend needed him? Even now she was looking at him in concern, wondering where he had disappeared to on her.  
  
"Sorry," he muttered. "All of these mentions of Maxes are frying my brain."  
  
Liz frowned. "Alex, I know it sounds weird, but I need you to focus here. I [I]need[/I] you."  
  
He folded his arms firmly. "I'm all ears. Now [I]tell[/I] me. What the hell is going on?" 


	7. Chapter 7

[u]Part 7[/u]  
  
Kate and Will had returned to the Crashdown immediately after Will's announcement that they were going to tell Rowena the truth about who she was. Kate had tried the entire way to convince her brother that it was a terrible idea, that they still didn't know what Ro's connection was to Zan, that approaching her too quickly might screw everything up even more, but Will was determined.  
  
"I know it's the right way to go," he told her firmly. "It's best to just get it all out in the open. She [I]felt[/I] something. I know she did and if we don't talk to her, she's going to get scared. We have to make her see that we're not a threat to her."  
  
"But Will! She's [I]friends[/I] with Zan! And we fully intend to be a threat to [I]him[/I]!" Kate snapped back, despite knowing that she was arguing in vain. Will was the leader, had [I]always[/I] been the leader. His decisions were final. They always had been, they always would be. It didn't mean she wasn't going to make sure that she was going to have the chance to say [I]I told you so[/I] later. "And what about Jack? Where [I]is[/I] he anyway?"  
  
"Undercover," Will replied. "He's pretending to be a student at West Roswell too. And if you see him, you're not to talk to him. You've already screwed up enough Katie, letting Zan see you like that. We need to keep all our tricks up our sleeves for as long as possible. As of right now, we don't know Jack. At all."  
  
"Will! Jack can't handle this on his own. He's going to crack for sure!"  
  
Will looked at her, his eyes narrowed. "When are you going to realize that Jack isn't quite the same person he was in our last lives? He's more than capable."  
  
Kate glared at him. "You're wrong Will. He's completely innocent. He's going to go right up to one of them and introduce himself, I'm telling you. He [I]still[/I] doesn't quite believe they're our enemies, just like last time! We have to keep him on a short leash."  
  
"I said to leave him alone Kate and that's final," Will told her, pushing his way into the Crashdown. He approached the man behind the counter, who had longish salt and pepper hair and a kind face. Kate blinked when Will introduced himself. "Hi, are you Mr. Parker?" Rowena lived in the [I]restaurant?[/I] Because apparently the man was her father.  
  
The man finished wiping his hands dry on a towel and grinned. "I am. And who might you be? We're not hiring right now if that's why you're here."  
  
Will grinned charmingly, making Kate stare at him in amazement. She was amazed. She hadn't been aware that her brother was capable of smiling. "No thanks. I actually just wanted to know if Liz was still at home." He indicated Kate. "My sister and I are new in town and I met Liz this morning. I wanted to introduce her to Kate." He paused. "My name is Will Spencer by the way."  
  
"Hi Will," Mr. Parker replied. "Kate. Nice to meet you. I haven't seen Lizzie this morning but I was in Albuquerque picking up some supplies." He frowned slightly. "I'm assuming she's at school where she's supposed to be. Should I be thinking differently?" He asked suspiciously.  
  
Kate rolled her eyes. Trust Will to get Liz into trouble. He was such a moron when it came to dealing with humans. He had never had to answer to anyone, except for their guardians when it came to their protection, but it certainly not been a parental relationship. He had always known he was a king and had always been treated that way. Their protectors had always been subservient because they had never had any reason to be anything else. They all remembered what had happened to them in their past lives when they hadn't been careful. They had never given their protectors any cause for concern.  
  
"Er, no." Will sounded slightly embarrassed. "Liz just told me that she sometimes comes home for lunch. I thought she might be here."  
  
Mr. Parker was still frowning. "Hmmm. Well, I haven't seen her but I'll tell her you dropped by." He paused. "Maybe I'll just call upstairs to see if she's there. She has been looking a little out of sorts lately. Maybe she decided to come home early after all."  
  
As Liz's father moved away to the phone, Kate elbowed her brother. "Smooth."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
Kate smirked at him. "What next oh great leader?"  
  
"We go back to the school of course," Will replied impatiently. "She probably did go back there."  
  
"And right to Zan to tell him that you connected with her I'll bet," Kate told him, her heart starting to beat more quickly. "We are so dead Will."  
  
Will didn't seem concerned. "Kate, why hasn't Zan come after us yet?" He asked pleasantly. "How are you so positive that he recognized you? Shouldn't he be here if he did? He's not an idiot, as much as I would like to say that he is."  
  
Kate shrugged. "He's probably gathering his forces."  
  
"What forces? Nicholas told us he had the other three and a couple of humans with them. Do those sound like [I]forces[/I] to you?"  
  
She didn't get a chance to answer though. Mr. Parker was coming back. "Nope. No answer. She must be at school. Sorry. She usually eats with Alex and Maria if that helps." He glanced at the clock on the wall and shrugged, "But lunch should be about over by now."  
  
"Thank you anyway," Will said politely. "Well, it was nice to meet you sir."  
  
"You too. Welcome to Roswell."  
  
Neither said another word until they were back on the street. "So, back to the school?" Kate asked, still annoyed that Will didn't believe her that Zan had recognized her. She [I]knew[/I] he had! He had stared right at her and his eyes had told her so.  
  
"I guess so," Will sighed. "We're going to have to be careful though." Kate could hear the note of worry in Will's voice. She glanced at him.  
  
"You're worried Ro [I]did[/I] go to Zan."  
  
Will grimaced. "No."  
  
"Will, it's a possibility. They're friends. You connected with her and she obviously knows who Zan and the others are. Of [I]course[/I] she went to him." Kate closed her eyes. "This is a complete disaster!"  
  
"It's not," Will insisted. "It only makes it more obvious that we have to tell Liz who she is right away, so that she'll stop hanging around Zan. He's dangerous to her. We both know that."  
  
There was a long pause as Kate thought about the strangeness of the fact that Rowena didn't seem to know anything about who [I]she[/I] was, but certainly knew who Zan was. "Why did he tell her the truth I wonder?" She finally asked her brother as they hurried back in the direction of West Roswell High. "If she's human in almost every way, how did they find each other?"  
  
"I don't know," Will told her, sounding determined. "But we're going to find out."  
  
********************************************************************  
  
"Liz Parker and Alex Whitman are in the Eraser Room!"  
  
Max whipped his head around as he hurried back through the front doors of the school. He and Izzy had taken the Jeep and had been to the Crashdown and over half of Roswell looking for Liz and the mysterious Will. Tess had pulled Kyle out of class to fill him in, although Max had been tempted to tell her not to. The last person Max wanted to talk to was Kyle Valenti but he had known he was being stupid. Kyle would care if Liz was in danger. That was all that mattered at the moment. And so, Tess and Kyle had taken the [I]other[/I] half of town.  
  
In some ways it had been a relief to get rid of Tess for a while. Max couldn't stand the way she was constantly breathing down his neck lately. It was driving him insane and if pulling Kyle into this meant a little peace from Tess, he realized that he was more than willing. Michael and Maria had stayed at the school in case Liz came back and to locate Alex.  
  
That had all been two hours ago though. Max was practically frantic now. He had known the instant that Liz had not come back to Bio that something was wrong. In fact, he had known it for the past ten days - ever since he had seen her in bed with Kyle. Yet, he had allowed his jealousy and his hurt to rule him and he hadn't made her tell him the truth. And now something had happened to her. He just [I]knew[/I] it. Particularly when Mr. Parker had told them at the Crashdown that they were the second set of siblings to come in asking for Liz in the past half an hour. Max and Isabel had stared at each other. He had seen Isabel's eyes widen in horror. When he had casually asked for the names of the two kids looking for Liz, he had been forced to clutch the counter, his knees suddenly weak with fear.  
  
[I]Will and Kate[/I]. So now they had names for the girl Max had plowed into in the hallway and for the new guy. And they were connected, just as they had suspected. This was [I] all[/I] bad. The only good thing about it was that Liz was clearly [I]not[/I] with Will any longer. But she was still missing.  
  
What if they had done something to her already? What if they were just covering their tracks by asking Mr. Parker about her so that when Liz didn't come home today, Will could safely say he had no idea where she was?  
  
Of course, based on the whisper Max was [I]sure[/I] he had just heard, had likely been [I]meant[/I] to overhear, Liz and Alex were going to be found in the last place any of them would have ever thought to look for them. And it seemed that they weren't in any danger at all. But why wouldn't Max's heart stop pounding, in some way knowing that they were?  
  
"Max?" Isabel whispered, sounding horrified. "Did you just hear that?" It took Max a minute to even process why his sister was upset. All he knew was the he was [I]glad[/I] that they now had a definite location for both of their friends.  
  
But taking one look at Isabel's face, he realized that Alex and Liz in the Eraser Room was indeed a bit odd. Not that he thought anything would be going on between them, but they had to have known that people were going to talk about it. And Isabel seemed to be taking it to heart if her face was any indication.  
  
"I think so. Go ask that girl Isabel. She'll tell you." Max barely had to say it though. His sister was already on her way. Within seconds she was in conversation with the two sophomores who had been speaking far too loudly. He decided to ignore the way the blonder of the two stared at him, a slightly assessing look on her face as her friend whispered frantically to Isabel, apparently slightly in awe that the popular junior was deigning to speak to her.  
  
She was probably trying to see if he was jealous. Max rolled his eyes. He knew he was obvious that he was in no way over Liz, but could people not just leave him in peace? Sometimes he really hated school. Most of the time he [I]wished[/I] his problems were a simple as those of all his peers - who was dating who, who had made the cheerleading squad and who hadn't. He didn't even know that girl's name! Why did she care if he was upset or not?  
  
No, he wasn't upset. Because he wasn't a typical high school boy pining for an ex-girlfriend. Instead, he was an alien king dealing with complete and utter heartbreak because his soul mate had slept with someone else. Oh yeah. And also dealing with the fact that he was somehow supposed to save a planet in another galaxy from a bunch of enemies, most of whom he had no idea how to find - or how to avoid.  
  
Nope. Not upset at all.  
  
And the stupidest part of it all was that he [I]was[/I] jealous. Not because he thought that there was anything going on between Alex and Liz, but because they had obviously had something of a serious enough nature to discuss in private that they had felt compelled to use the Eraser Room. The entire student body respected the Eraser Room. They wouldn't be bothered there. Which meant that Liz was confiding in Alex. It meant that there really [I]was[/I] something wrong and she had turned to someone else and he hated it.  
  
He was almost tempted to go straight there, pull open the door and demand that Liz finally tell him the truth about what was going on with her. Because he really couldn't take much more of this. The more he had reflected on her behavior that morning, the more he was [I]sure[/I] that there was more to the Kyle thing than she was letting on. She wouldn't feel as bad about it as she did if there weren't. Because hadn't she brutalized him to his face right [I]before[/I] the Kyle thing, telling him that she didn't want to die for him? She hadn't felt bad [I]then[/I].  
  
Which, he was beginning to realize, meant it was a lie. She hadn't felt bad because she had known that he wouldn't believe her. And he [I]hadn't[/I]. But now that she thought he [I]did[/I] believe her, she felt bad. Because she was upset that he believed it, that she had hurt him.  
  
How could he have been so stupid?  
  
Max stood in the middle of the virtually empty hallway with his mouth hanging open in disbelief. Isabel was wrapping up her conversation as the final bell for sixth period had just rung and the two sophomores were hurrying off to class, but Max saw none of this. He could feel a smile beginning to break across his face.  
  
She [I]did[/I] still care about him. There was no other explanation for it. Something else was going on. He just [I]knew[/I] it.  
  
"Well?" He raised an eyebrow at Isabel as she rejoined him.  
  
"Max, they've been in there for three periods!" Isabel exclaimed, her tone slightly hysterical. "What are they [I]doing[/I] in there?"  
  
"We're going to find out," Max replied grimly. "Let's go."  
  
Isabel called after him. "Max, I don't know if this is such a good idea. Has Liz gone crazy or something? First Kyle and now Alex?"  
  
He looked over his shoulder impatiently. "Iz, let's [I]go[/I]. You [I]know[/I] it's nothing like that!"  
  
"Right. Alex wouldn't do that." Isabel nodded firmly. "You're right. I know [I]him[/I]." Which, of course, implied that she [I]didn't[/I] know Liz, that she wouldn't put it past Liz to be shacked up in the Eraser Room with Alex. Max sighed. This was another reason he hadn't wanted Michael or Isabel to know about the Kyle thing. Even after everything Liz had done for them, they were always ready to believe the worst of her, so protective of [I]him[/I], they couldn't help themselves. It was extremely frustrating, particularly because Max knew how really wonderful she was.  
  
But Max knew Liz and he knew that what Isabel was imagining couldn't be true. Alex was like her brother. It would be like Isabel and Michael.Or.Okay, now that was just too gross to even contemplate. He was [I]not[/I] going there. But he knew that how he and Michael felt about Izzy was how Liz felt about Alex.  
  
She was confiding in him. Somehow Max just knew it. Which meant she had something to confide. He was almost gleeful as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, Isabel on his heels.  
  
Liz was stubborn, Max knew, but when he confronted her with all of his evidence, she was going to have to admit the truth - that she was keeping something from him. It was only a matter of time now until things could go back to normal, back to the way they were supposed to be, back to the way he had known deep in his heart they were meant to be from the first moment he had laid eyes on Liz that day in the playground.  
  
Fate had brought them together. He wasn't going to let whatever it was upsetting Liz keep them apart. Not anymore. They were connected on a level deeper than they would ever be with anyone else. If she had broken and was telling Alex, he could get her to tell [I]him[/I]. He just knew it.  
  
He was practically jogging now, unable to slow down, desperate to make Liz tell him the truth. He rounded the corner to the corridor where the Eraser Room was located and stopped so abruptly, Isabel crashed into his back.  
  
Apparently he and Isabel were not the only ones to hear the Liz and Alex were in the Eraser Room. Because standing at the far end of the hallway were the new guy and girl, who had both come to an sudden halt as well, at the sight of he and Isabel.  
  
Will and Kate. The two new students - the ones they had all convinced themselves were aliens. But as Max stared at them, he couldn't help but reflect that they looked just as human as everyone else in West Roswell High. They didn't [I]look[/I] like Skins. They weren't itching or dropping pieces of themselves all over the place for one thing. And if they [I]were[/I] Skins, their sheaths had to be just about ready to fall off. Max had seen Courtney at Michael's the night before. None of those aliens were long for this world.  
  
Had they all just become paranoid? Were they losing it and couldn't even accept that two new students might be just that - two new students?  
  
"Max?" Isabel whispered urgently. "That's them, isn't it?" Max remembered that his sister hadn't seen either of the newcomers yet.  
  
Will and Kate were still staring at them too and the [I]way[/I] they were staring at them.Max remembered the flash of recognition he had seen in Kate's eyes when he had slammed into her in the hallway earlier that morning. He had not been wrong. These two kids [I]knew[/I] him. He could see it on both of their faces. Which could [I]not[/I] be a good thing. Even now he was beginning to feel something in the air, something charging up, as though merely being in their presence was setting something into motion.  
  
This was very, very bad.  
  
"It's them," Max muttered back. "Do they seem at all familiar? Can you [I]feel[/I] it Iz?"  
  
"I feel it." Isabel shivered. "Who are they? It's different then with the Skins Max. It's just.weird. It feels like.."  
  
"I know Iz. It feels like when we first saw Michael.and Tess."  
  
Isabel nodded fearfully. "Are they here for Liz?"  
  
"I think so." Max clenched his fists at his side.  
  
"Why? If they're like Michael and Tess." Isabel trailed off, no longer sounding afraid but, instead, confused.  
  
"I don't know. But if they're trying to get at me through her, they've got another thing coming. They're going to take her over my dead body."  
  
[I]With pleasure Zan.[/I]  
  
Max felt his eyes widen as the voice suddenly penetrated his thoughts, out of absolutely nowhere. It was a male voice, one he had never heard before, but he knew [I]instantly[/I] that it was the other guy at the end of the hallway speaking to him, despite the fact that Will's mouth had not opened.  
  
Okay then. No doubts now. Aliens. Check.  
  
And suddenly what that voice had said hit home.  
  
Yup, this was very, very bad.  
  
"MAX!" Isabel's scream made him react instantly. He brought his arm up and the green plasma shield Tess had helped him hone over the summer appeared out of nowhere, protecting he and his sister as a bolt of green lightening seemed to shoot right out of Will's upraised hand. It bounced innocently off the shield though. He and Isabel were completely protected.  
  
But the assault went on and on. Max couldn't drop his arm, felt his energy being drained. He was still aware enough though to watch in horror as the Eraser Room door slammed open, the sudden chaos in the hallway obviously bringing Alex and Liz out to see what was going on.  
  
Why couldn't they have stayed where they were safe? Didn't they know better by now? Max thought desperately, wondering how he was going to protect them and still keep Isabel safe too. He didn't know if he could keep the shield much longer, let alone use it to protect Liz and Alex too.  
  
"MAX!" He heard Liz scream his name. Alex's head was whipping back and forth between the two sets of aliens, horror written on his face. Max felt a stab of relief as he saw Alex grab Liz, ready to pull her back into the Eraser Room. Good old Alex.  
  
But it was too late. While Max and Isabel had been cowering behind his shield, Kate had made her move. She had been ready for Max's two friends when they had come out and, now, she grabbed them both by the wrist and seemed to be holding them with some kind of super-human strength. Liz and Alex were both fighting her, but it seemed to do no good.  
  
Will was moving towards them now, still casually flinging lightening towards Max and Isabel so that they couldn't move. Max could only watch helplessly as Will placed his hand on his Kate's shoulder.  
  
And an instant later Liz, Alex, Will and Kate all disappeared into thin air. 


	8. Chapter 8

[u]Part 8[/u]  
  
Liz woke up with a splitting headache. She groaned, bringing her fingertips gingerly to her temples. What the hell had happened to her? Memory returned slowly as consciousness seeped in.  
  
The last thing she remembered clearly was the shocked and dazed look that had gradually come over Alex's face as she had told her best friend the entire story of Future Max. At first he had looked like he was humoring her, his face displaying the same expression it had when she had told him the first time about Max and who he really was, that time they were in jail during the heat wave. But, as he slowly started to accept that what she was saying was true - that a future version of Max Evans had really come back to tell her that she needed to push he and Tess together or the world would end - his face had taken on the same overwhelmed expression he had worn for a good two weeks after the original revelation of aliens living among them.  
  
She remembered what a relief it had been to finally get it all off her chest, even if Alex wasn't going to buy it at first. And he hadn't. Right before they had heard all that noise out in the hallway, he had started grilling her with questions - asking her things that [I]she[/I] had asked herself a million times already.  
  
"Maria thinks that someone is mindwarping you. Are you sure it's not that? This could be Tess playing with your mind," and "What about a shapeshifter? It could have been a shapeshifter!" and, finally, just because he was Alex, "You're on drugs again, aren't you?" That one had made her giggle, despite herself.  
  
As for the other questions, Liz calmly answered them all with the same response. "It was Max. I [I]know[/I] it."  
  
Finally, Alex had thrown his hands up in frustration. "Liz, how can you be [I]sure[/I]? How?"  
  
"His eyes." It was the first time she actually understood how she had known, but she was right. It had been Future Max's eyes. He had been Max. There was no doubt in her mind. His eyes had told her so. They had been the same gentle, loving eyes she had always known - the eyes that spoke to her soul.  
  
It was as this revelation had hit that chaos had erupted on the other side of the Eraser Room door. She and Alex had stared at each other, equally confused and, then, stupidly, they had gone barreling into the corridor. Because who would believe that a full-fledged alien smackdown was taking place right out in public? Right in [I]school[/I] for God's sake!  
  
But it had been. After that, everything had happened so quickly, it was mostly images, little more. To one side Liz had seen Max and Isabel, cowering behind the shield that Max had used to protect she and Tess in Copper Summit. Turning her head she had seen Will, the new boy, sending lightening bolts flying at the two Evans siblings, his face an emotionless mask. Liz had looked back at Max, terror for him making her stomach churn. She had seen the pain on his face as he struggled to keep the shield in place, had seen the fear and she had screamed his name despite herself. She had been aware of Alex grabbing her, of him trying to pull her back into the Eraser Room. Then everything had gone dark.  
  
"You're all right now." The voice penetrated the pain, familiar and, yet, frightening. "I'm sorry that had to happen."  
  
She felt a cool cloth against her eyes. It was enough that when it was taken away, she managed to slit her eyes open. Her heart started to beat erratically as she met Will Spencer's blue-eyed gaze. She could see concern melt into relief as he seemed to become aware of the fact that she was truly awake.  
  
Liz sat up and moved away from him so quickly, he almost fell over backwards off the bed. "Stay away from me!" She told him urgently. She pushed herself back against the headboard, terror making her want to scream, but, as her eyes darted around the room in which she found herself - were they in a motel? - she wondered if there was anyone around to hear her.  
  
"Liz." Will was steadily on his feet now, reaching out to her. "Please, it's not what you think."  
  
"Not what I think?" Liz almost screamed at him. "You're an alien! Aren't you? And you kidnapped me! Didn't you? I think it's [I]exactly[/I] what I think!" She could feel shivers beginning to claim her body. The only time she had ever been more afraid in her life was when Max had been taken by Pierce.  
  
The thought of Max actually calmed her down slightly. At least if she was the one who had been kidnapped, Max was safe. Even with how bad things were between them presently, she could not have borne it if something had happened to him again. She had barely been able to deal with it the last time. Flashes of all that he had endured in the white room passed through her mind, making her feel ill, as they always did.  
  
At least Max was safe. It was a small comfort, but comfort nonetheless.  
  
Unless he was being kept somewhere else. The new, horrible thought penetrated her relief, making her heart thunder again.  
  
"What do you want?" Liz demanded. "Where is Max?"  
  
Will's eyes flickered slightly. He had been watching her helplessly, but now his face hardened. "Not here."  
  
Liz stared at him. "You didn't take him?"  
  
"No."  
  
"So this is a trap then? Max comes after me and you do something awful to him [I]then[/I]?"  
  
"It's [I]you[/I] we want." Will's voice was quiet as he carefully sat back on the bed. "Liz, please. You need to listen to me. We never intended to have to teleport you out of there. We were just coming to talk to you. We had no idea that [I]they[/I] would be there." The way he emphasized [I]they[/I] - it did nothing to mask his hatred of Max and Isabel. It upset Liz even more. She had been right then. Will [I]was[/I] Max's enemy.  
  
It took a moment, but she finally remembered what he had said about it being [I]her[/I] they wanted. Who was [I]they[/I] anyway? And what did they want with her, if it wasn't to trap Max? Liz narrowed her eyes, stared at him for a long moment. He was watching her with those blue eyes, obviously trying to figure out what she was thinking.  
  
"Why me?" She whispered. "Don't you know that he doesn't love me anymore?"  
  
Will frowned. "Who doesn't love you?"  
  
"Max. I broke his heart." Her voice trembled slightly as Max's words in Copper Summit replayed themselves in her brain, just as they had a million times since he had said them.  
  
[I]What I saw can't be true, because it means everything I felt in my heart for the last year is a lie![/I]  
  
Liz closed her eyes against the painful memory. Why was it getting harder to deal with the fact that she was lying to Max? Shouldn't it be getting easier? Wasn't time supposed to heal all wounds?  
  
"Liz?" She felt his hand on her knee, flinched away. Her eyes flew open and she berated herself for becoming distracted. She needed to be strong, needed to find out as much as she could about these enemies so that she could warn Max. She needed to figure out a way to escape before Max came for her, so that he wouldn't put himself in danger - so that he wouldn't suffer anymore on her behalf. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Why would I be okay?" Liz demanded. "You kidnapped me!" A memory managed to make it's way past the confusion that she felt. "And Alex! Where is he? Did you hurt him?" Oh God! Alex! This was her fault. She had brought him into it all by weakening, by telling him the truth.  
  
"Your friend Alex is fine," Will reassured her quickly. "He's with Kate."  
  
"I want to see him." Liz pressed her lips together, folded her arms against her chest, lifting her chin.  
  
"Will it make you feel better?" Will sounded a bit disappointed, like he liked being alone with her. She remembered suddenly what Alex had said to her, about how he had not liked the way Will looked at her - possessively, as though she belonged to him.  
  
She bit her lip, stared at him. "Who [I]are[/I] you?" She whispered, curiosity finally winning over fear.  
  
"It's not really about who I am Liz," Will replied, looking away. "It's about who [I]you[/I] are." He turned back, a slight frown on his face. "What did you mean when you said that you broke Max's heart? Were you two [I]together[/I]?" The last word was said slowly, as though he desperately wanted her to deny it.  
  
She wasn't sure which course to take. If Will understood just how important Max was to her, would it make things better or worse? She eyed him for a long moment, tried to [I]read[/I] him. She remembered the way she had felt when she had spent those few short hours with him this morning - God! Was it really only this morning? She had felt that she could [I]trust[/I] him. It had been the first time she had felt that since she had first connected with Max.  
  
Liz realized that this was what she found the scariest about Will. She had never imagined that there were two people who could make her feel the same way, had never thought in a million years that anyone could replace Max. And, yet, this boy had actually made her wonder if the possibility existed, if even for a short while. She knew now that it had all been a lie, a ruse, but it had worked. She had found herself opening up to him earlier and she wanted to do the same now.  
  
Somehow she just knew in her heart that he would never hurt her. She [I]knew[/I] him and she wanted to know why.  
  
"We were together," she told him shortly. "I love him."  
  
Liz watched in wide-eyed fascination as Will stared back at her. A shudder ran through his entire body, making her flinch. She actually felt sorry for him, for what reason, she couldn't understand. He was a complete stranger. She couldn't be [I]hurting[/I] him by telling him this.  
  
"Why does it matter to you?" She asked him quietly, reaching out a hand to comfort him, despite herself. He shivered again when she touched him gently on the cheek. "Who [I]are[/I] you?"  
  
Will clenched his hands in his lap, turned away so that his forearms rested on his knees and he was staring at the floor. "It doesn't matter," he spat out a moment later, as though whatever had hurt him was now turning into an anger so deep, he couldn't look at her.  
  
"It does matter. I don't understand any of this." She touched him again, this time on the back, urging him to look at her. "Please tell me what's going on."  
  
He stood up abruptly, turned on her. "I'll tell you what's going on! You are sleeping with the enemy and you've betrayed everything I've ever believed about you."  
  
"What?" Liz whispered, staring at him in horror. "[I]You[/I] are my enemy. Any enemy of Max's is my enemy too. Max is my soul mate." Her voice lowered. "Even if we can't ever be together, he is one I am supposed to be with."  
  
Will snorted. "He has truly fooled you, hasn't he Rowena?"  
  
Liz was very frightened again. She backed away from him, not understanding any of this. "What are you talking about? My name is Liz. Are you confusing me with someone else?"  
  
"I wish." His voice cracked slightly. "I wish I was. I can't believe this is happening. How can this actually be happening?"  
  
It was a rhetorical question, but Liz answered him anyway. "I can't tell you anything until you tell me who you think I am." Because she understood that this was what was happening. He obviously thought she was someone else, was making a mistake because she had been close to Max. Maybe he wasn't Max's enemy at all. He was obviously an alien, but he was just as obviously not a Skin. Maybe he was just as confused as Max and Isabel and Michael and Tess were. Maybe she could help him.  
  
Will turned back, his face expressionless and said the absolute last thing she expected. His voice was calm and cold as he stated the words that were destined to change her life forever.  
  
"You are my wife and you have betrayed me by falling in love with the person I most hate in the universe."  
  
*************************************************  
  
"Max! Max, are you all right?"  
  
"Does he look all right Tess? He practically just drained himself!" Isabel screeched.  
  
"I can see that Isabel!" Tess flared back. It took Max a moment to realize that he was slumped against a bank of lockers and that he was at school. He wasn't quite sure how he had ended up so out of it, but he was slowly coming back to himself. When he was fully able to focus again, he saw that Isabel and Tess were kneeling beside him, both frantically running their hands over his body to see if he was hurt. Kyle was standing behind them, his arms folded across his chest, a scowl on his face.  
  
Max's eyes narrowed. He pushed the two girls away, climbed unsteadily to his feet. "I'm fine! Leave me alone!" Suddenly he remembered exactly how he had drained himself so completely he had momentarily lost consciousness.  
  
[I]Liz![/I]  
  
Isabel seemed to understand why he was frantically looking around. "They're gone Max." He could hear the tears in his sister's voice. "Both Liz and Alex just disappeared into thin air."  
  
"But not before the two new aliens on the block made a huge scene, with a little help from both of you," Kyle added. He looked around uncomfortably. "You're both just lucky that Tess and I came into the school just as you guys were running up here. We followed you and Tess was able to mindwarp so that no one else saw."  
  
Max grimaced slightly as he realized that Kyle was right. He had just openly displayed his powers, but he had had no choice. Both he and Izzy would have been fried to a crisp if he hadn't. The other two - Kate and Will - had obviously not cared a bit if they were seen. It was weird and extremely unsettling.  
  
"We have to find them," he finally said, knowing that it was obvious, but wanting to focus his thoughts. "Now. If anything happens to either of them, I'll never forgive myself." He turned on his heel and hurried towards the stairs. Max knew that they needed to find Michael and Maria and split up so that they could cover more territory.  
  
"I just don't get it Max," Isabel told him as the other three trailed after him. "We were both right here and we obviously couldn't have held them off for much longer. Why did they take Alex and Liz? It doesn't make [I]any[/I] sense!"  
  
"I know," Max replied. It was what was freaking him out more than anything. What did these new kids want with Liz? Because it was now more than obvious that it was Liz that, at least, that Will wanted. "I don't understand [I]any[/I] of this Iz." He frowned, frantically searched his brain for any hint as to what the other two wanted. "He called me Zan." Max shook his head in confusion. "What does that even mean?"  
  
Tess spoke up at this. "It sort of sounds like a name, don't you think?"  
  
Max turned his head abruptly when he heard Isabel gasp. "Maybe," he answered Tess, distracted by the look on his sister's face. "Izzy?"  
  
Isabel had gone completely white. "Vilandra." She stopped walking, closed her eyes and swallowed. "My name was Vilandra."  
  
"What?" Max demanded, staring at her. "What are you talking about?"  
  
When his sister opened her eyes again, there were tears shining, threatening to fall. "I.I."  
  
"Isabel, what do you know?" Max asked quietly. Because the terror on his sister's face was actually making his knees quake a little bit.  
  
"I didn't want to tell you!" Isabel's voice cracked. "I thought when we destroyed the Harvest it was all over. You didn't need to know."  
  
"Know what?" Max placed his hands firmly on Isabel's shoulders. "Isabel, calm down and tell me. What do you know?"  
  
Isabel stared at him for a long moment, sighed once, a shudder running through her tall frame as she took a deep breath. "Whittaker told me a little bit about what happened to us in our past lives."  
  
"Isabel!" Tess exclaimed. "How could you not tell us this?"  
  
"Tess." Max said her name firmly, causing the small blonde to snap her mouth shut. "Isabel, what is it? Why couldn't you tell me this?"  
  
"Max, it's really awful," Isabel replied, her voice toneless. "It's.I just really couldn't bear for you to know."  
  
Max frowned. "I don't understand. Why are you thinking differently now?"  
  
"Because if that guy called you [I]Zan[/I] - and I heard him do it.in our [I]heads[/I] Max!.then it means it's [I]not[/I] over. If Tess is right, and that was your name before, it might still happen." She trailed off, looked away. If Max was not mistaken, she could not meet his eyes.  
  
"What might still happen Isabel?" It was like pulling teeth, but Max could see how upset his sister was. She [I]truly[/I] did not want to tell him whatever it was she was hiding.  
  
"I will betray you. Because I did," she finished quietly. "Before."  
  
"Hey guys! Finally! Michael and I can't find Alex [I]anywhere![/I]" Maria's voice broke the dead silence that followed Isabel's statement. Max was still staring at his sister in dumbfounded disbelief as Michael and Maria hurried over to join them, having come in from the quad.  
  
Michael took one look at them all standing around with their mouths hanging open and demanded, "What the hell happened?"  
  
"Your past lives are coming back to haunt you," Kyle replied, shaking his head. "I think."  
  
"Huh?" Michael looked at Max. "Maxwell, what is he talking about?"  
  
Max was still trying to process what his sister had said. [I]I will betray you.[/I] Why did Isabel sound so certain? What exactly had Whittaker told her? And why did that phrase make him think about Liz again, think about her face when he had found her in bed with Kyle?  
  
Betrayal. He did not believe that Isabel was capable of it and he [I]knew[/I] that Liz wasn't either. He had [I]always[/I] known it. They were the two people he trusted the most in the world. How could he doubt - have doubted - either of them, if even for a moment?  
  
Max turned his head, looked at Kyle, a slight frown on his face. Was it his imagination or would Kyle not meet his eyes? "I'm tired of secrets," he said, ignoring Michael's question. "And I'm tired of running away from the truth." He started walking again, this time towards the parking lot. "C'mon," he called over his shoulder to his friends. "Let's get this resolved once and for all."  
  
"Max? Max!" Isabel's voice called after him as they all raced to keep up with him. "What about Liz and Alex?"  
  
"This is a way to find them. We [I]need[/I] to know who these people are who took them, what they want," Max replied. "We need answers, once and for all. And I know [I]just[/I] where to get them." 


	9. Chapter 9

[u]Part 9[/u]  
  
Liz stared at Will in open-mouthed astonishment. "You're crazy," she finally whispered, her heart beating a nervous tattoo against her chest. "I'm not your wife. I'm a human. You've made a mistake Will." If there was one thing she knew it was that. He [I]had[/I] to be mistaken - or lying. What game was he playing? This was obviously some gigantic ruse Max's enemies had devised with to torture him. There was no other explanation.  
  
Max would [I]not[/I] be hurt again. Not if she had anything to say about it. She felt her spine stiffening as she prepared to accuse him of being the liar she knew he was.  
  
And, yet, she found herself fascinated at the same time. She wanted to hear more, wanted to see how far he would take this. She stared into his eyes and the familiarity she had felt since she had first seen him ran through her again.  
  
Will was obviously trying to get control of his emotions. "You don't remember anything. I know it's true but it's so hard to accept, because I remember it all." He paused, rubbed a hand across his eyes. "I'm sorry I yelled." He lowered himself onto the bed again. "Can I just ask you a couple of questions?"  
  
Liz narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"  
  
"Because I think you might find it easier to hear the truth if you think about some stuff first."  
  
She stared at him, her mind whirling in a thousand different directions. Her heart was still pounding, but she was not going to waste this opportunity. She needed to find out as much as she could - for Max's sake. "Okay. But first I want to ask [I]you[/I] a few things."  
  
Will started, then grinned. Liz could not believe it. Why was he suddenly [I]amused[/I]? "Why am I not surprised?" He asked.  
  
"What?" Liz demanded, a little annoyed.  
  
"You haven't changed at all. Strange things never frightened you. You always just wanted to know [I]more[/I] about them." He shook his head. "And, trust me, I know this is strange."  
  
Liz grimaced at the fairly accurate description of her character. But she didn't comment, just asked, "Why do you hate Max?"  
  
Will's eyes darkened but he answered readily enough, "Because he was a tyrant who destroyed our galaxy."  
  
Liz blinked. "You [I]knew[/I] him? Before I mean?" She felt her heart leap with joy for Max. All the answers they had been chasing after for months were suddenly right at her fingertips. But the expression on Will's face quickly reminded her that he [I]hated[/I] Max. There was no way of knowing if he was telling the truth.  
  
"Certainly," Will replied. "We were never close friends, but we did communicate regularly, especially after we both took our respective thrones."  
  
"Why were you allied with a tyrant?" Liz asked logically.  
  
"Tradition. Antar has always held the high kingship of the system." Will shook his head. "The kings and queens of Antar have always ruled fairly and wisely. It was only when Zan took the throne that things changed."  
  
"Changed how?"  
  
"He wanted more power. He tried to depose the rulers of the four other planets, hoping to set up puppets in their place. Basically he intended to change the whole status quo. He wanted control of my planet - Sardica - in particular. Sardica is the centre of commerce for the system. Zan didn't like that. He always felt that it should be Antar and, if it couldn't be, then he wanted Sardica more closely under his thumb." Will straightened his spine. "The kings of Sardica have always been their own rulers though. We resisted the controls he tried to impose."  
  
"So you rebelled?"  
  
"Yes. Another planet - yours - joined us. It made sense of course. We were already allied through our marriage. Zan destroyed Valonia, your home, and made his move on Sardica. We managed to repel them for several months, but, in the end, we had to surrender."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because he captured you," Will's voice cracked. "You went up to his ship to parlay for peace and he broke all the codes of warfare that have governed our galaxy since the beginning of time. He held you captive and I was forced to hand over the government of Sardica."  
  
Liz swallowed. The bleakness in his tone made her pity him, despite herself. "Why are you so positive that I'm who you say I am?" She asked, shaking her head firmly to erase her sympathy for him. "I'm telling you, I have [I]always[/I] been Liz Parker. I was [I]born[/I] Liz Parker. My parents even have pictures from the delivery room."  
  
"You [I]are[/I] Rowena," Will replied firmly. "My cousin has the gift of reading essences. It is a vital power - one that we have used many times to identify our enemies. He read yours in the imprint you left in Copper Summit when you were there with Zan. I don't know how to explain how you ended up with the Parkers. You were obviously removed from your pod early for some reason I don't understand."  
  
Liz stared at him, disbelieving, but willing to humor him for the moment. "You came out of a pod too?"  
  
"Yes. Kate and I are hybrids - half-human, half-Sardican."  
  
"And you think I am as well," Liz finished for him when he trailed off.  
  
"Yes. Well, half-human, half-Valonian. " He paused. "Do you think I can ask you some of [I]my[/I] questions now?"  
  
Liz frowned. "No, I'm not done." Will looked amused again, which only irritated her. She thought for a moment. "How did this whole podding thing come about in the first place?"  
  
Will sighed. "It's a long story. Suffice it to say, we won. Zan died but his mother refused to accept that his reign of terror was over so she cloned him, intending that he would be podded until maturity and that he would one day retake the Antarian throne. She combined his DNA with that of some human samples they had in their possession and sent him to Earth to keep him a secret."  
  
"But why are [I]you[/I] here?" Liz asked. "If you won, why didn't you stay and rule."  
  
"I had well placed spies," Will said. "One of them contacted me and we sent in a team to retrieve the pods and to stop the plot." He closed his eyes. "We were too late though. And it was much worse than we could have imagined. She hadn't only cloned Zan. She had also cloned his sister Vilandra, Zan's wife and Vilandra's husband as well."  
  
"Isabel, Michael and Tess?" Liz felt her heart drop at the confirmation that Max had indeed been married to Tess in his past life. She wondered why it [I]still[/I] hurt so much. She had known it for months now and, yet, she could not accept it.  
  
"Yes, those are their names, according to Nicholas."  
  
Liz started. "[I]Nicholas![/I] What does [I]he[/I] have to do with any of this?"  
  
Will looked startled. "Oh, I thought you knew. Nicholas works for me."  
  
She stumbled to her feet, away from him. "What? He tried to kill Isabel! He ordered all those Skins to hurt Max!"  
  
"They are his enemies Liz," Will replied mildly. "He was only doing it to protect my people."  
  
"The Skins are [I]your[/I] people?" Liz gasped, horrified. "They're horrible! Murderers! They killed Nasedo!"  
  
"Who's Nasedo?" Will asked, confused.  
  
"He's their protector. He was the only one who could help them to find out who they are!" Liz exclaimed. "A Skin disguised herself as a congresswoman and she killed him."  
  
"Wait a minute." Will held up his hands. "What do you mean he was the only one who could help them find out who they are?" He stared at her. "Are you trying to tell me that they don't know?"  
  
"They know they're aliens, but they have no idea about all this past life stuff. I swear it. Whoever you think Max and the others were in their past lives, whatever they did, they can't be held responsible for it now! They don't remember," Liz insisted.  
  
Will looked stunned. "How is this possible?" He muttered, clearly confused. "Are you sure? How do you know this?"  
  
Liz wilted slightly as she thought about all she and Max had shared through the flashes that were unique to their relationship. She knew everything about him because of those flashes. It was one of the reasons it was so hard to let him go. She truly knew how wonderful he was and also knew that she would never find anyone like him again. "We've connected," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "I've seen his soul and it's beautiful. He's not evil. He could never [I]be[/I] evil."  
  
"Then you must believe me! About who you are Liz! If you've managed a connection with Zan, you must understand that you aren't completely human." Will sounded excited. "That is your gift you know - the ability to see people clearly - to judge them by connecting with them."  
  
Liz shook her head. "You don't understand Will. My ability to connect with Max has nothing to do with alien DNA. I could never do it before."  
  
"Before what?"  
  
"Before he saved my life," Liz told him quietly. "If it wasn't for Max Evans I would have died more than a year ago."  
  
Will stared at her in shock. "[I]What?[/I] Oh my God! Ro!" He moved towards her, grasped her by the upper arms. "Are you trying to tell me that I almost lost you before I even found you?"  
  
Liz flinched away from him. "Don't call me that! I am [I]not[/I] this Rowena. My name is Liz Parker and the only reason I have any sort of alien power at all is because of Max Evans. Don't you understand? I love him! And he has loves me - or at least he used to. He loved me for his entire life! If I was his enemy, how could that even be possible? He has always been with Isabel, but he recognized Michael and Tess almost immediately upon knowing them. If I was an alien too, wouldn't he have known?"  
  
"How could he have known the others if he doesn't remember anything?" Will asked, ignoring the main part of her speech, which annoyed Liz. But as his words penetrated her irritation, she realized what she had just said.  
  
[I]Max Evans had loved her for his entire life.[/I]  
  
She blinked. "He just [I]did[/I]," she murmured. Her mind was whirling, memories of the first connection she had ever made with Max flying through her head. She remembered how special and beautiful she had felt because that's how [I]he[/I] had seen her. But she also remembered how Max had [I]loved[/I] her from the moment he had laid eyes on her as a little boy on that playground. She had been unaware of him, but in that connection she had [I]felt[/I] how he had felt on that day.  
  
He hadn't just [I]loved[/I] her. He had [I]recognized[/I] her. The realization slammed into her, making her knees weak. She stumbled to a chair in the corner of the room, collapsed into it, staring at Will.  
  
"Oh my God."  
  
"Liz, what?" Will was crouching in front of her, worry in his blue eyes. "What's wrong?"  
  
"He [I]knew[/I] me," Liz whispered. "And he got it all mixed up. He was only a little boy. Of course he wouldn't have any idea that he was supposed to hate me."  
  
"Liz! Please!"  
  
Liz swallowed, her heart pounding in disbelief. As she looked at Will, she narrowed her eyes, tried to [I]remember[/I] him. She tried to remember [I]anything[/I]. She tried but all she encountered were all the memories she had always had - of growing up in Roswell, of discovering that aliens were real, of falling in love with Max Evans, of giving him up and breaking her own heart in the process. She only had memories of [I]being[/I] Liz Parker.  
  
Yet, as she stared at Will, she [I]knew[/I] it with every part of her being. She knew that he was telling her the truth.  
  
She was not human. And, in that moment, Liz could think of only one thing to do. She screamed.  
  
************************************************************  
  
Kate nearly jumped out her skin when she heard movement behind her. She had been sitting on the end of the bed, staring off into space, wondering how they had ended up in such a mess when Alex Whitman's voice penetrated her thoughts. "Where am I?" His throat sounded scratchy, like he needed a glass of water. She jumped to her feet and poured him one from the bottle sitting near the television.  
  
Rowena's friend had been unconscious for so long, Kate had been extremely worried. The last thing they wanted to do was to hurt innocent bystanders. That was more Zan's style and they had always done everything in their power to make sure they were nothing like Zan. Kate wasn't even sure why she had brought the tall, dark-haired boy with them when she had teleported Liz and Will out of the school. She could have easily left him behind after all. There had been no [I]need[/I] to bring him.  
  
As she handed him the glass of water, she watched him take a sip, wondered how he was going to react when he realized what had happened to him. She and Will had discussed the matter at length after they had brought Liz and Alex to the motel on the highway leading out of Roswell. They weren't sure how much Alex knew. Will had called Nicholas to find out if he had been in Copper Summit. As far as their general recalled, he hadn't. But, according to Will, it was also clear that Alex Whitman was one of Liz's closest friends. It seemed unlikely that he didn't at least know [I]something[/I] about Zan and the others.  
  
In the end, they had decided to keep him with them, if only to make sure Zan stayed away. Alex might lead their enemy right to them. Will had also thought that it might make Rowena feel more secure to have someone she trusted around. Kate had pressed her lips together. All Will cared about at the moment was Rowena and [I]her[/I] feelings. He didn't seem to have grasped at all that they had come face to face with Zan and Vilandra and that they had [I]won[/I]. Even though Zan had a complete four square, he had not been able to stop them from taking Rowena.  
  
Kate didn't understand it at all. It made no sense to her. Did they not know how powerful they were? She could not remember a single time that Zan had ever been on the [I]defensive[/I]. Even when he had died, he had been on the attack. But that's what had happened this time. Zan had barely managed to protect himself and Vilandra from Will's assault. He had had no chance of saving Rowena. What could it possibly mean?  
  
Kate continued to eye Alex. Could he tell her more about the four they had come to Roswell to defeat once and for all? Was he loyal to them? Did he even [I]know[/I] about the existence of aliens?  
  
Well, if he hadn't known before, he certainly knew something now, she reflected wryly. She remembered the way he had offered to help her that morning, not even knowing her or what was upsetting her. As she stared at him now, she could see that he did not look frightened at all - merely resigned.  
  
"Are you feeling okay?" She asked tentatively, not sure what to say to him.  
  
"I could use a little of Max's healing touch," Alex replied. At the confused look Kate was sure crossed her face, he added, "I have a headache." So he knew Zan was a healer, which meant he likely [I]did[/I] know all about the others. "And I'm worried about Liz. Is she okay?"  
  
"She's fine. She's with Will." Kate grimaced. "He's telling her the truth."  
  
"What is the truth?" Alex asked quietly. "Who are you? I know you're aliens."  
  
Kate's eyes widened that he stated it so bluntly. "You don't seem shocked."  
  
"I've been caught in the alien abyss for too long to be shocked by anything anymore," Alex said wryly. "I'm not even scared, which I know is stupid. I've just come to accept that this is what my life is going to be like from now on. No control - ever." He paused, narrowing his eyes. "You're not going to kill me, are you?"  
  
"NO!" Kate exclaimed, horrified. "We don't do that!"  
  
"You were trying to kill Max and Isabel," Alex reminded her. "Why should I doubt that you would do the same to me?"  
  
"Zan is evil!" Kate replied heatedly. "He deserves to be killed. And Vi has obviously lost whatever courage she once had. She isn't defying him any longer."  
  
Alex's eyes flashed, uncomprehending for a moment. "You mean Max and Isabel? Those are their real names, aren't they?" He paused and then his face whitened. "Are they dead? Did you kill them?"  
  
"No. We should have," Kate muttered. "We had the upper hand. But Will wanted to get Liz out of there." She started, realized that she had said more than she had meant to. Why did she feel it was so easy to open up to this boy? He was listening quietly. She could almost see his mind at work. She pressed her lips together, determined that she would say no more.  
  
Alex closed his eyes wearily. "Why? What does he want with Liz? Is he trying to torture Max? Is that it?" He opened his eyes and looked directly at her. "Because it won't work. They're not together anymore."  
  
Kate could tell he was lying. He did not do it gracefully. His cheeks were turning a charming shade of red and she could see a nervous pulse beating through the vein on his neck. Zan would obviously care that Rowena had been taken. In fact, it sounded like they had been a couple. She couldn't believe Zan's gall. He had seduced Rowena without even telling her who she really was! It was even more despicable than what he had done in his past life. At least then he had only killed her. This time he was using her first.  
  
"They were together?" Kate asked, wanting confirmation that any honour she had, perhaps, in her weaker moments, thought Zan still possessed was non- existent.  
  
Alex snorted. "Oh yeah." He rolled his eyes. "As my friend Maria would say, they had the whole "staring into your eyes soul mate thing" going on." He paused, grimacing. "Not that they do [I]anymore[/I]," he continued hastily. "Like I said, they broke up. So you can just let Liz and I go." He stood up slowly. "Because, really, I just think this is all a big mistake."  
  
Kate pressed her hands together. This boy - he truly did not seem to know what Zan and the others were really like. He was their [I]friend[/I]. How could she just let him go without telling him the truth, without warning him that any association with the Royal Four would just end in disaster?  
  
"Alex, how did you find out about Zan and the others?" She asked bluntly. He turned to look at her, his eyes unreadable.  
  
"Why do you think they're evil?" He asked back. "Because they're not. They're my friends." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't think [I]you're[/I] evil either. Shouldn't you guys be working together?"  
  
"Work with Zan! You must be crazy!" Kate exclaimed. She paused when he just looked at her, frowning. "Why don't you think I'm evil?''  
  
"I'm a good judge of character," Alex replied. He paused. "Plus you're not leaving pieces of your skin all over the place," he added, "Which means you're not a Skin."  
  
Kate's eyes widened. "What do you know about the Skins?" She asked. She felt a lump entering her throat at the thought of her poor people. Her poor people who were dying slowly but surely, the Earth's atmosphere killing them because they couldn't go home.  
  
"They're killers," Alex said evenly. "They killed Nasedo and one of them almost killed Tess and Isabel."  
  
"Nasedo?"  
  
"Their protector - a shapeshifter." Alex offered.  
  
Kate sighed. "So it is true then. The Wendarians did join with Zan." She shook her head. "We were never sure." She frowned. "I wonder why Nicholas didn't tell us this."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"The Wendarians," Kate explained. "They are the shapeshifters in our galaxy. They are from Wendar. Just as I am from Sardica and your [I]friends[/I],"she couldn't keep the disdain from her voice, "Are from Antar." She paused. "Well, not Rath. He's from Valonia, but he has always pretended to be Antarian. Ever since he married Vi."  
  
"Ooookay." Alex let out a long breath, stood up and started to pace. "You know, I think I'm starting to panic now. I [I]knew[/I] I was way too calm before." Kate watched him in amazement as he began to melt down right in front of her. "I think I was in shock." He was muttering to himself, clearly looking for an explanation. She blinked when he stopped pacing his erratic movements abruptly and stared right at her. "You really do hate my friends, don't you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"They are evil."  
  
Alex grimaced. "I'm telling you. They're not. I know them. They don't even [I]know[/I] who they are! You just gave me more information than they've managed to uncover in ten years!"  
  
Kate stared at him. "What are you saying? You're trying to tell me that they don't remember?" She snorted. "Right. Then why is Zan using Rowena if he doesn't know? He would have no reason to pretend to love her if he didn't know who she was."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Alex demanded, staring openly at her. "Who is Rowena?"  
  
A piercing scream interrupted Kate before she could tell him. She watched Alex's eyes widen. "Liz!" He turned on his heel and bolted for the door before Kate could stop him.  
  
By the time she caught up with him, he was already pounding on the door to the room across the hall - the room where Will was talking to Liz. "Let me in dammit! Liz!"  
  
The door flew open suddenly and Kate watched in astonishment as Liz threw herself at her friend. "Alex! We need to get out of here. I'm telling you. We [I]need[/I] to."  
  
Alex rubbed her back in comfort but glared over her dark head at Will. "What did you do to her? I thought you didn't hurt people?" He looked back at Kate accusingly. "Isn't that what you said?"  
  
"You told her then?" Kate asked Will wryly.  
  
Will sighed. "She didn't believe me right away but then I think she remembered something." He was upset, that was clear, but Kate thought it was more because he didn't know how to calm Liz down than because of [I]why[/I] she was upset.  
  
"What did you tell her?" Alex demanded. Liz had gone completely silent by now. Kate stared at her as she clutched at Alex's shirt as though trying to crawl into his skin. It was beyond disturbing. "It's okay Liz! I'm here." He paused, glared at both Will and Kate in turn. "You know what? Forget it! I don't care. You can take your damn alien feud and shove it. I'm getting Liz out of her."  
  
Kate was beyond surprised when Will allowed Alex to take Liz by the hand and lead her away.  
  
"They're going to go straight to Zan," Kate told him. "We should go after them."  
  
Will narrowed his eyes. "I don't think so." He pressed his lips together.  
  
"Will, this is a [I]bad[/I] idea."  
  
"Give her time." And with that, her brother re-entered his room and slammed the door in Kate's face.  
  
To be continued. 


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Thank you for all the wonderful feedback on this story. Just a reminder that not all is as it seems. I like Will too, but try not to let your affection for him make you forget that the Zan he is talking about is NOT our Max. Plus, who's to say who is right anyway. History is written by the victors. More details to follow. Who is good and who is evil will remain ambiguous in this story until the very end. That being said, I'm glad so many people are intrigued by the idea that the Royal Four might not have been as wonderful as we were always led to believe (not that Max's behavior on the show when he was "following his alien side" has EVER made us believe so! LOL)  
  
[u]Part 10[/u]  
  
"Just let me check on her first Maxwell," Michael insisted as he turned the key in his front door and pushed it open. "She sleeps a lot. Her skin is totally giving out on her. I have to vacuum at least three times a day."  
  
[I]Michael owns a vacuum?[/I] Max thought inanely. His mind was in turmoil, his concern for Liz and his fear of these new aliens, who were obviously stronger than any of them, making him feel jittery and unable to focus. When he realized that Michael was waiting for a response before moving out of the way, he said, "Fine. But we can't put this off Michael. I need to talk to her right now."  
  
"I know." Michael pressed his lips together. "She's not our enemy though. Just remember that."  
  
"Not [I]your[/I] enemy," Max said wryly. "She wants to overthrow [I]me[/I], remember?"  
  
"Not [I]yours[/I]either," Michael shot back. "She didn't know you before Max. She was just some kid caught up in something she didn't understand. I explained to her."  
  
"That I'm not a psycho killer?" Max sighed. For all he knew, he [I]had[/I] been a psycho killer in his past life. Although he didn't think so. Hadn't his mother called him the beloved leader of his people in the message from the orb? Of course, that could have been a mother's love speaking. Caligula's mother had probably loved [I]him[/I] too.  
  
"I don't think she thinks you were a psycho killer Maxwell," Michael retorted impatiently. "She just thinks I'd make a better king." He grinned, in spite of the dire circumstances in which they presently found themselves. "I don't think she knew [I]me[/I] very well either. She just loved me from afar."  
  
Max shrugged. "Who knows what any of us were like before Michael. Maybe you [I]were[/I] the one more suited to rule. That's what we're here to find out."  
  
Max was a little ashamed that he hadn't thought of questioning Courtney about their past lives before, but he had been so wrapped up in the giant mess that was his relationship with Liz lately, it hadn't even dawned on him that they had a font of information right at their fingertips. It was only now that Liz and Alex were in danger that it had even crossed his mind that they were wasting a valuable resource. It had taken them almost a year to discover what little they [I]did[/I] know about themselves. To not find out all they could from Courtney before she died, even if it was filtered through the skin girl's own prejudices and loyalties, would be almost a crime.  
  
He might not [I]want[/I] to know about his past life, but he finally understood that he [I]had[/I] to. If he didn't know why his enemies hated him, if he didn't know who he had been, he couldn't protect the people he loved, nor could he make the right decisions for everyone. As much as he didn't want the responsibility of it, every day his friends were turning to him more and more to make the major choices. Even Michael was doing so and that fact alone told Max that he had to start accepting that his new role was permanent and unchangeable. If all his friends accepted it, he had to as well, if only for [I]their[/I] sakes.  
  
All in all, it sucked to be the king Max thought now as he watched Michael tap on his bedroom door and then enter to see if Courtney was okay. He was sure he wasn't the first to think so either. Power was coveted by many, but, in the end, the responsibility of it all - the inability to think about what [I]you[/I] really want because so many people are depending on you - was so exhausting, he was beginning to want to go to sleep and never wake up. The sheer irony of it was that having power and wanting to use it for good was the most scary proposition he had ever encountered.  
  
It hadn't been this way when he had been with Liz though. Then he had felt strong and eager to face each new day, eager to solve any problems that came their way, if only so that he could go back to being blissfully happy that she loved him as much as he loved her. Even what he had endured in the white room had been bearable because she had been waiting for him when he escaped. The [I]thought[/I] of her had helped him survive it and [I]being[/I] with her after had healed him in a way that nothing else could have. Without Liz's love, her concern, he would likely [I]still[/I] be dealing with the psychological ramifications of what had happened to him there. But loving her had gotten him through it because he would have lived through the torture of a thousand Pierces if it meant keeping her safe. And now the only way to save her - to make sure she was never threatened again - was to find out exactly [I]who[/I] and [I]what[/I] they were fighting. It scared him to find out who he had been, was likely why he hadn't approached Courtney before, but he would do it for Liz. He would do [I]anything[/I] for Liz.  
  
Michael appeared on the threshold of his bedroom, his face grim. "Okay Maxwell." Max grimaced, understanding that Michael's concern meant that Courtney's death was only a matter of time now. He felt bad about it, but couldn't see how they could do anything to help her besides what Michael was already doing in trying to make her as comfortable as possible as she faced her demise. Any chance of saving her had been destroyed with the harvest.  
  
Max followed his friend through into the darkened bedroom, blinking to adjust his eyes. Michael crossed the room and leaned against the wall beside the head of the bed, his arms crossed as he waited expectantly for Max to speak.  
  
"Hi," he said quietly to the blonde girl sitting up against a pile of stacked pillows on Michael's bed. He tried not a flinch at the peeling skin on her face or the way she couldn't help but reach up and pull some of it off as he watched. It was revolting but certainly wasn't Courtney's fault after all.  
  
Courtney was staring at him, her blue eyes wary. "Hi. Gross huh? Trust me. It's better underneath. I was a babe at home. Not that you'll ever see that." She smiled weakly. Max relaxed slightly, could see that she was still trying to keep up the facade of being the sassy waitress he was used to. "Michael said you wanted to talk to me?"  
  
"Yeah. Two of our friends are in trouble and I think you can help us find them."  
  
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm surprised you would trust me enough to ask." She glanced at Michael. "I'm assuming you know who I am."  
  
"I know that you're loyal to Michael," Max replied evenly. "And he's just as worried about them as I am."  
  
"It's true," Michael put in here. "They're [I]my[/I] friends too Courtney."  
  
"Is it the two girls?" Courtney asked. "Isabel and Tess I mean? Is they why [I]they're[/I] not here?"  
  
"No, Liz and Alex," Max told her, glad that he had asked the others to wait for he and Michael at the Crashdown. "I came alone. I'm not trying to threaten or scare you Courtney. I just want answers."  
  
She continued to gaze at him steadily, assessing, weighing. "You guys really [I]do[/I] care about humans, don't you?" She finally asked, sounding slightly surprised. She looked at Michael. "I thought you were just using Maria to get your kicks."  
  
Michael's gaze darkened, but all he said was, "No."  
  
Courtney smiled at him. "I should have known better. It wouldn't have been like you before either. I guess I was just messed up because it [I]would[/I] have been like Zan and I've seen him do it this time too - playing both Tess and Liz."  
  
Max felt a flash of anger, but kept it in check by taking a deep breath. "You don't know me," was all he said, trying to keep his tone mild. "Whoever I was before, I'm not the same now."  
  
"Max isn't like that," Michael added. "I've told you that Courtney."  
  
She shrugged. "I know what I know."  
  
"So you [I]do[/I] know more about who we were then?" Max asked. "Because that's why I'm here. I want to hear it all. I want to know [I]everything[/I] you know."  
  
"Of course I know who you are," Courtney replied. "I'm still the same person I was on Sardica. I wasn't reborn like you were."  
  
Max moved forward, tried to ignore the way Courtney's eyes narrowed with dislike. "Can I ask you some questions?"  
  
"Sure," she said, sounding slightly flippant.  
  
"Okay." Max started pacing, trying to get his thoughts in order. "You just mentioned Sardica. Is that where we're from?"  
  
"No. Sardica was [I]my[/I] planet. You were the king of Antar. Antar holds the high kingship of the system. The king of Sardica is Khivar. He held that planet by your leave but now he holds both Sardica and Antar. There are five planets in the system," she added as an afterthought. "Antar, Sardica, Wendar, Valonia and Knosis. You were high king of them all, although you only ruled Antar directly."  
  
Max frowned. He knew a little bit about feudalism from the world history course he had taken as a freshman. It sounded like where they came from was governed in that fashion. It was a little strange that a population advanced enough to have mastered space travel should be using such an outdated system, but it wasn't really important at the moment. He could deal with his inherent issues with monarchy later. "So my name was Zan? Is that right?"  
  
"Yes. Your sister is Vilandra, your wife Ava and your second-in-command," she looked over at Michael, "is Rath." Max saw Michael's eyes narrow. It suddenly occurred to Max that it was a little strange that Michael hadn't asked Courtney anything about who he had been before this. It also showed how much Michael had changed. He was generally more concerned about keeping those he cared about safe these days than about finding out about their past. It was a major shift in Michael's personality and one Max would talk to his friend about later.  
  
He also realized that Courtney referred to all of them being these people he had never heard of in the present tense. Because to [I]her[/I] it was who they still were. It only reinforced to him how dangerous it was for them not to know exactly how their enemies viewed them. He and the others knew that they weren't dangerous or evil, but beings who remembered them before didn't. It was a strange thought, but one he was going to have to get used to - the idea that people could hate him without even [I]knowing[/I] him. And it brought his next question easily to his lips. "What can you tell me about the Skins? Why do they hate us? And why don't [I]you[/I] work with Nicholas and the others?"  
  
"The Skins are Sardicans," Courtney replied. "They support Khivar and chased you down here to kill you for his sake. They defeated you last time, but your mother cloned you and the Antarians refuse to accept Khivar as the high king because they all believe that you will come back some day. So even though you died, you are [I]still[/I] tearing the system apart."  
  
"But you [I]don't[/I] support Khivar?" Max asked. "Why?"  
  
"Khivar is an idiot," Courtney sighed. "He's more concerned about getting Rowena back than he is about facilitating the golden age we were right on the verge of accomplishing. He's no better than Zan, even if we are from the same race."  
  
"Rowena?"  
  
"Rowena was Khivar's wife. She was [I]your[/I] cousin by the way," Courtney told Michael. "You're not Antarian by birth. You're from Valonia but you were raised in Zan's court because you were betrothed to Vilandra pretty much at birth. It was why you were [I]our[/I] choice to rule the system in Zan's place. You knew Antar, its politics and its people. They loved you almost as much as they loved Zan. With Vilandra as your wife, they would have accepted you. She was Zan's heir anyway."  
  
Max tried to take in all this information, tried to keep it straight in his head. "Okay, so you want Michael to rule. Why? You don't seem to have anything against Antar being in charge or any particular loyalty to [I]your[/I] planet. What is your issue with Zan?" He tensed, almost afraid to hear what she was going to say.  
  
"I have the same problem with Zan I have with Khivar. You both worry about your personal lives more than you do about your people." She rolled her eyes. "You were forced by your father into a betrothal you didn't want and so you proceeded to make everyone in the system miserable as a consequence. Once you were king, you spent so much time trying to finagle a way [I]out[/I] of the marriage treaty, you ignored your [I]real[/I] job, which was to govern. So many splinter groups popped up as a result, its going to be years before they're all appeased and we can get the system back on track," she finished bitterly.  
  
"So I didn't want to marry Tess?" Max couldn't help but feel a twinge of satisfaction. Somewhere, deep inside, he had [I]known[/I] it. He knew that he didn't love Tess. The attraction he had felt for her when she had first arrived in Roswell had been the result of a combination of mindwarping and the recognition factor that had pulled him towards Michael the first time he had met him too. She [I]was[/I] like him after all, even if he didn't love her. But, apparently, he had been just as unwilling to be with her before as he was now.  
  
"No. It was a political match. Ava was the sister of the king of Knosis," Courtney replied. "You fought it for years, although no one really knew why. Ava was a nice enough girl and she loved [I]you[/I]. She was raised with you just like Rath was and no king or queen ever married for love. It's all about alliances, which Rath and Vilandra knew and accepted. It's why we wanted them on the throne instead of you. They would have fixed things." She glanced at Michael, her eyes softening. Max saw his best friend shift uncomfortably.  
  
"But Zan obviously gave in," Max told her. He wondered if he should start saying [I]I[/I] instead of referring to the king of Antar in the third person. It was just too weird though. He didn't [I]feel[/I] like Zan. He didn't remember being Zan. He was listening to a story about a far off place he didn't recall at all and felt very little loyalty to. Although, maybe that wasn't so strange. It didn't sound like he had cared particularly about being king [I]before[/I] either.  
  
"Yes. Right before you were killed you accepted it. The war was going so badly, you desperately needed Knosis's support."  
  
"What was the issue with Khivar?" Michael asked when Max stayed quiet, thinking about what this all meant. "What did [I]he[/I] have against Zan?"  
  
Courtney frowned slightly. "I'm not really sure actually. Sardica is the central commerce planet of the system. I think Zan allowed some tariffs to go through that shouldn't have?" This last was phrased more like a question, as though Max or Michael might have been able to answer her, which of course they couldn't. She shrugged. "I'm telling you, a lot of it was pretty petty. Big egos and little concern for the well-being of the populations affected. It was yet [I]another[/I] reason that Rath would have made a great king. He was a man of the people, having served in Zan's army for years. He wouldn't have let his personal problems interfere with the best interests of the system."  
  
Max and Michael exchanged a look. "Well, it's not going to happen, so you might as well just forget it," Michael finally said firmly, his eyes still locked with his king's. Max had known that Michael would never betray him. When he had first heard about the "Michael worshippers" it hadn't even crossed his mind as anything other than a strange little bit of trivia. The implacable expression on his best friend's face now meant that Max had been right. Michael didn't care about leading. He just wanted to make sure that Max did it right. Suddenly all of his arguments with Michael over the years made perfect sense. He had been his advisor and friend in a past life and it had bled over into this one. The teenage human hormones tossed into the mix this time likely made his friend a bit more pissy than he had been as Rath, but he was still essentially the same.  
  
Which meant that Max and the others were essentially the same as well.  
  
He wasn't surprised about himself. He didn't want to be king, [I]was[/I] still more concerned about his personal life than about his people. Even now, when all this information was being thrown at him, deep down he was thinking about how it affected things with Liz, how [I]she[/I] would take this stuff. Because, deep down, in places he didn't like to think about, she was really all he cared about. He knew that it was the last thing she would want - that she wouldn't want him to throw away his responsibilities or his destiny for her sake - but it was what he [I]really[/I] wanted to do.  
  
And, yet, he knew he couldn't. So he wondered what it all meant for he and Liz and hoped that it really meant nothing. Because if he hadn't loved his wife - Tess - in their past lives, what difference did it make if he loved her now?  
  
"What about all these marriages and stuff?" Michael asked, as though reading Max's mind. "I don't still have to be with Isabel do I? I never bought that," he directed this comment to Max. The way he said it showed Max that he was actually asking on his king's behalf, not his own. Michael knew how little Max wanted any of the destiny crap to be necessary after all. He knew that it was the main issue standing between Max and Liz and he cared that they were both miserable - or at least it had been until the Kyle debacle. Max wondered if Michael suspected as he did - that if Liz had actually slept with Kyle, it had all been an elaborate plan to push Max away and to make him accept his future with Tess. "I [I]never[/I] bought it Maxwell," Michael repeated and this time Max knew he wasn't talking about [I]destiny[/I] at all. Somehow Max knew he was talking about Kyle and Liz. Michael set his jaw and continued in a rush. "Remember when Liz's journal was missing?"  
  
Max blinked, but nodded, unsure why Michael was bringing that up at the moment.  
  
"[I]I[/I] stole it. I asked Liz not to tell you and from the look on your face, I can see she didn't," Michael grimaced. He threw his hands up. "Before you get your panties in a twist, let me just tell you why I did it."  
  
"Fine," Max replied through gritted teeth, his outrage on Liz's behalf barely contained.  
  
"I needed to know what she was thinking, what she was about - if we could trust her," Michael said, not sounding sorry, even now. "And I found out what I needed to know about Liz Parker from that book."  
  
"What is the point of this Michael?" Max asked, more confused now than angry.  
  
"Liz Parker loves you. If she did the nasty with Valenti it was for [I]you[/I]." He paused. "Which is kind of disturbing actually, but I know it has to be true. The last thing that girl would [I]ever[/I] do is deliberately hurt you."  
  
Max felt a flash of gratitude towards his best friend, even though he was still angry that Michael had violated Liz's privacy like that. And, yet, he couldn't help but like what Michael said. He took a deep breath and said what Michael needed to hear. "Thank you. It's what I suspected too, but I wondered if I was just kidding myself, coming up with excuses so that I could deal with it, so that I wouldn't have to accept that she doesn't love me anymore. Hearing [I]you[/I] say that means a lot."  
  
Michael nodded stiffly and looked away, obviously slightly embarrassed now. He addressed Courtney gruffly. "So what about the marriages?"  
  
Max felt his heart start to beat more quickly as he waited for Courtney's answer.  
  
She shrugged, looking slightly wary after the exchange Michael and Max had just shared. Max wondered about it, but brushed it aside for the moment. "Well, I would assume that keeping the treaties that the marriages represent would be important to the Antarians, although Valonia is on Khivar's side anyway because of Rowena's marriage to him and because of what happened there."  
  
"What happened?" Max asked.  
  
"It was virtually destroyed by Antarian sky forces," Courtney replied darkly. "Under Zan's command, not Rath's," she added pointedly.  
  
"And, yet, Rath still remained loyal? After Zan demolished his home?" Max demanded in disbelief.  
  
"He loved Zan. He was loyal to the end."  
  
The question of loyalty made Max think of Isabel and her certainty that she would betray him, that she had done it before and they were all doomed to relive the same paths they had trod before. He knew that his sister would [I]never[/I] turn on him and so it was the next thing he wanted to know about - why Vilandra had joined the enemy the last time. "What about Zan's sister? Vilandra. We've been told that she betrayed her brother? Is that true?"  
  
Courtney's face lit up with admiration. "Vilandra was a good woman. After the razing of Valonia, she felt she had no choice. She took her forces and joined with Khivar. She tried to convince Rath to do the same, but he wouldn't."  
  
Michael was frowning when Max looked at him as he spoke next. "So what I don't get is why you're still so loyal to [I]me[/I]? It sounds like Rath made some pretty bad choices. If Zan was the asshole this story seems to say he was, what was [I]my[/I] deal?"  
  
"You insisted, at the tribunal of the five planets, that Zan had no control over the Antarian Sky Army, that he had trusted [I]you[/I] to command them and you failed him by allowing what happened at Valonia. Basically you took responsibility for the whole thing and refused to allow Zan to be blamed." She paused. "In fact, you even wanted to prove that Khivar was really behind it, although no one believed that because of his love for Rowena. He would never have hurt her people."  
  
"What was my proof?" Michael asked, frowning slightly.  
  
"I have no idea. They halted your testimony. The judge said it was ridiculous and that everyone knew that Khivar had nothing to gain by destroying Valonia. It was his only ally."  
  
Michael looked at Max. "I think we need to find out exactly what happened on Valonia Maxwell. It might be the key to everything." Max could almost see the wheels turning in his best friend's head as Michael Guerin started to transform back into the general he had once been.  
  
"You're probably right," Max agreed. "But right now we need to worry about Alex and Liz." He sat down on the bed beside Courtney. She didn't flinch away from him as Max half-expected her to do, but continued to gaze at him steadily. "There are two new aliens in Roswell. They don't look like Skins to me because they weren't peeling." He trailed off, grimacing at the fact that he had reminded her of the state in which she currently existed.  
  
Courtney smiled slightly. "Don't worry. I've accepted that my time has come. And you're right. With the harvest gone, most of the Skins are likely dead by now. Any left would be too weak to be any threat to you." She narrowed her eyes. "Were they shapeshifters? We know that the Wendarians have a faction down here too. There were two sent with you in your ship." This comment reminded Max that they still hadn't asked Courtney about how they had all died and why they had been sent to Earth. But as she continued, he realized there would be time for that later. For right now, it was more important to find Liz and Alex and to understand who Will and Kate were. "Michael told me that you were in contact with one of them."  
  
"Nasedo," Michael agreed. "But he's dead."  
  
Courtney looked perplexed. "Maybe there were more of them?"  
  
Max shook his head, sighing. "I don't know. They didn't shapeshift in front of us. It was weird. I felt like they were like [I]us[/I]. Seeing them - especially the girl - I felt like I [I]knew[/I] them. I was even sort of [I]happy[/I] to see her the first time I ran into her." He trailed off, totally perplexed as he voiced aloud exactly what he had felt when he had crashed into Kate that morning in the school hallway.  
  
"They tried to kill you Maxwell," Michael reminded him. "I'm doubting she felt the same way."  
  
"If that happened, they weren't Wendarians," Courtney added, sounding sure. "Antar and Wendar are allied." She paused, seemed to be thinking. "How did they try and kill you?"  
  
Max quickly explained how Will had been capable of throwing lightening bolts and how he had spoken to him in his head. He also added that Kate had apparently teleported her brother and their two captives away, revealing [I]her[/I] gift. Max watched in fearful fascination as Courtney's face whitened.  
  
"What is it?" Michael demanded when she reached out and clutched his hand.  
  
"I don't understand. It doesn't make any sense," she muttered.  
  
"What doesn't?" Max asked, his heart thundering in his chest.  
  
"Well, those gifts." Courtney trailed off. "But it [I]is[/I] impossible. He's on Antar. I [I]know[/I] he is! I know that Nicholas communicated with him there a lot over the years." She seemed to be working a problem out in her mind, muttering to herself rather than speaking to Max or Michael. "It [I]might[/I] be her. She died soon enough." There was another long pause and then, "There's no other explanation though."  
  
Michael glanced at Max, worried. Max just shrugged, but his hope that she would be able to give them the answer they needed had increased as he tried to follow the train of her thoughts.  
  
Courtney finally looked directly at Max again. "I don't think you're going to like this."  
  
"Tell me. Please."  
  
"It just seems wrong somehow - in fact I know it [I]is[/I] wrong because he's still alive on Antar - but those gifts." Courtney pressed her lips together and finally just blurted it out. "It sounds like you faced Khivar himself this morning."  
  
Before this information could even penetrate Max's muddled brain, a piercing ring made him practically jump out of his skin. Michael visibly flinched as well, but he seemed to realize more quickly that it was the phone. He hurried out of the room and was back a moment later, his expression perplexed.  
  
"Michael, what is it?" Max demanded.  
  
"That was Izzy at the Crashdown," Michael replied, sounding dumbfounded. And then he said what made Max's entire being sing with relief, something that made him forget momentarily the significance - and terror - of what Courtney had just told them. "They're back."  
  
To be continued. 


	11. Chapter 11

[u]Part 11[/u]  
  
Once Alex had Liz out of the motel, he managed to control his thundering heart long enough to try and formulate a plan. His first instinct was to call in Max, Michael and the others, but it didn't take him long to realize that handing his friends over to their enemies was not the soundest idea. He had not lied when he told Kate that he didn't believe she was evil, but it was also clear that she didn't believe him when he said that Max and the others weren't either.  
  
There was only one other person he felt safe calling at this point. He still had Liz firmly by the hand as they stood at the side of the highway. He was beginning to get his bearings, realized that they were on 285 South, likely about ten miles out of Roswell. Since he didn't want to stay close to Will and Kate if he didn't have to, in case they changed their minds about letting he and Liz go, Alex started to pull Liz after him towards town.  
  
He was becoming more concerned for Liz the longer she went without speaking, which she hadn't since she had begged him to get her out of the motel. Instead, she stumbled after him, her eyes slightly glassy. More than anything, Alex wanted to know what Will had said to her. Whatever it was, it had obviously freaked her out on a level Alex couldn't even grasp. He felt a flash of anger. Liz certainly had not needed more bad news - not after what she'd been going through over the past couple of weeks. Being told by a future version of your soul mate that you had to push the present incarnation of said soul mate towards your biggest rival or you would be responsible for the end of the world was about all one person should have to handle at one time.  
  
"Do you have your phone?" Alex asked her now, hoping she would answer, so that at least he would know her brain hadn't been fried somehow. He wondered briefly why he was so preoccupied with alien brain frying today. It wasn't like he had ever witnessed such a thing before. It was the second time he had thought of it, but, for some reason, it was really weighing him down.  
  
Liz blinked, nodded. She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to him. Alex was relieved to see that her eyes were clear. "Don't call Max. I don't want him anywhere near here."  
  
Okay, brain intact. Check, Alex thought with relief. Liz's brain would always think of Max first. "I'm going to call Valenti," Alex reassured her. "He needs to know about this Liz. We have to tell [I]someone[/I]."  
  
Liz sighed. "Okay."  
  
Alex quickly dialed the sheriff's station, was relieved when Deputy Hanson didn't think it was weird that a teenager would call and demand to be connected to the sheriff. But, then, Alex reflected wryly, he was likely used to it by now. Moments later, Valenti's once terrifying, but now reassuring voice, sounded in his ear. "Kyle, is that you? I told you I'd pick you up in time for the game. If we leave by three, we'll be in Phoenix in plenty of time."  
  
"Sorry Sheriff, it's Alex." Alex grimaced when he realized that it was likely that another father/son bonding session was about to be tossed into the alien abyss.  
  
"Mr. Whitman?" The sheriff was instantly on alert. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"Can you pick Liz and me up? We're sort of stranded and we don't want to call the others."  
  
"May I ask why?"  
  
"I promise we'll tell you everything, but we just really need a ride."  
  
"Fine. Give me the details."  
  
Alex did so and hung up, handing the phone back to Liz. She was watching him anxiously. "He's coming?"  
  
"Yup." Alex shrugged in the direction of town. "Let's walk though. I don't feel like having them show up suddenly again."  
  
"Okay."  
  
They walked in tense silence for close to five minutes before Alex finally blurted impatiently, "Well?"  
  
He saw Liz glance at him warily out of the corner of her eye. "Well, what?"  
  
"Liz."  
  
She sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you, but he was lying anyway so it doesn't really matter."  
  
"Will?"  
  
"Yeah." There was a long pause and then she said quietly, "He told me that I'm an alien too."  
  
Alex stopped walking abruptly and stared at the back of Liz's head. He knew his mouth was hanging open but he couldn't help it. If he had thought that the time-traveling story was mind-blowing, this was beyond even that. "Why would he do that? We know that's not true!" Alex finally managed to stutter.  
  
"I know," Liz grimaced. But from the tone of her voice.  
  
"Liz, you don't actually believe him?" Alex demanded, astounded. "What about the whole human DNA thing? Isn't that how you found out about Max in the first place? By comparing your DNA? That's what you told me!"  
  
"I know all that Alex!" Liz snapped. "I know it's not true, but he reminded me about something, and it freaked me out a bit."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The way Max and I connect," Liz replied. "I know that Michael has gotten flashes from Maria, but she hasn't gotten them from him. I've always thought it was a consequence of Max healing me but when I asked Kyle about it, even though he told me that he got them from Max, I think he was kidding." She smiled slightly at the memory. "I'm pretty sure he was kidding actually." Alex frowned, wondering what Kyle had said. "Anyway, I've gotten them from Max - so many times - the last time being only a couple of weeks ago." Her voice softened slightly. "When he was trying to convince me that we belong together." Alex grabbed her hand and squeezed it, knew that what Liz had done two weeks ago had been the most difficult thing she had ever faced. He didn't want her thinking about Future Max at the moment.  
  
"So what's the point?" He asked, trying to bring her back to the topic at hand.  
  
Liz shook her head, apparently trying to rid herself of a painful memory. "Will told me that was my gift," she continued. "That I could always connect with people, that I read their true intentions by doing so. His cousin can apparently read essences too and he recognized mine in Copper Summit." She trailed off, obviously thinking hard about what she had been told.  
  
Alex narrowed his eyes. "What else did he say?" He could tell that Liz was holding something back, that there was something else particularly awful.  
  
"He told me that my name was Rowena and that I was his wife."  
  
"Whoa. He pulled out all the big cards, didn't he?" Alex rolled his eyes. "Liz, I think that, more than anything, has to prove that he's lying."  
  
"Why?" Liz asked, hopeful.  
  
"He must have known how much you mean to Max. He's trying to get at them through you. Maybe he's trying to get Max's allies on his side."  
  
"But he seemed really hurt when I told him that I loved Max," Liz sounded unsure. "Like it was the first time he'd heard it."  
  
Alex reflected on the fact that Kate had seemed equally as shocked by the news that Max and Liz had been together. "I don't know what to say," he finally shrugged.  
  
"Alex, there's something else." Liz trailed off again, sounding scared. "You know how I told you before that it seemed like Will knew me when I met him?"  
  
Alex nodded, wondering where she was headed with this.  
  
"I didn't tell you this." Liz swallowed, looked right at him. "I knew him too. From the first moment I laid eyes on him. And that's why, even though I don't want to, I think I believe him."  
  
****************************************************  
  
When he and Michael entered the Crashdown, Max's eyes lit immediately on his friends, who were all gathered around a table at the back of the restaurant.  
  
He was not at all surprised to see that they were arguing. Maria was actually shrieking in frustration, but Max was pleased to see that, for once, it wasn't directed at Tess, who was sitting quietly, listening. Max was shocked to see who it was that was taking her abuse, but was relieved that besides that, Alex seemed perfectly healthy. Max sighed and hurried towards them, Michael on his heels. "You guys! What's wrong? Everyone's staring at you!" Max quickly scanned the table, felt his relief at the sight of Alex evaporate. "Where's Liz?" He looked at Isabel accusingly. "You said they were both back!  
  
"She's upstairs." This came from Alex, who sounded extremely weary. "She's looking for something."  
  
Max barely had time to take this in before Maria pounced on him. "Max, make Alex tell us what happened. He won't! I think they did some sort of silencing spell on him."  
  
"Maria! They did not do a silencing spell on me," Alex retorted impatiently. "I told you, it's not my story to tell and even if it were, this is certainly not the place." He looked around meaningfully. "You should know that by now."  
  
Maria's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry. I've just been worried sick," she said. Michael moved forward and pulled her up into his arms, running a comforting hand down her back.  
  
Alex sighed again, looked at Max. "Liz is okay. Physically anyway."  
  
Now what was that supposed to mean? Max wondered. "I'm going to find her," he said quickly, moving away before anyone could stop him, although that didn't mean he didn't hear Alex calling after him, telling him it was a bad idea.  
  
He pushed his way through to the back of the Crashdown, just in time to meet Liz coming down the stairs. She stopped abruptly at the sight of him, her dark eyes widening. For one instant he thought she was going to turn on her heel and run away from him, but was pleased when she took a deep breath and stayed where she was.  
  
Max ran his eyes over her, breathed a sigh of relief to see that Alex had not been lying that she was okay. But he asked, just to be sure. "Are you hurt?" He barely resisted the urge to rush up the stairs and pull her into his arms so that he could check for himself.  
  
Liz managed the shadow of a smile, but it was quickly gone. "No."  
  
"Thank God." He took a step towards her. He saw her bite her lip, but she continued down the stairs, in spite of her obvious discomfort. "Liz, what happened?" For the first time he noticed that she was carrying something in her hands. He frowned slightly when he realized that it was a photo album.  
  
"They let us go," Liz said simply. "They didn't hurt us. We just left and called Valenti and he came and picked us up." Max nodded, now understanding why the sheriff had been sitting quietly at the counter, not part of the group, but obviously in the restaurant for some specific reason. He felt a pang of misery that she had not wanted him to come for her.  
  
"Why didn't you call me?" He tried not to sound hurt, but knew he didn't succeed.  
  
"Because they're not dangerous to me, but I can't say the same about you," she replied. "Max, I think I can keep them away from you, but you need to stay away too."  
  
He stared at her. "What do you mean?" How could Liz keep their enemies away from them? If Courtney had been right and Will was his enemy Khivar, then there was no way that he would stop before he killed Max and everyone he loved. It was why he was on Earth after all.  
  
Liz looked at him steadily. "He's wrong about something, but I think he truly believes it. He cares about me Max and he won't hurt me. If I make it clear to him that I won't tolerate anything happening to you, I think he'll listen."  
  
"I don't understand," Max told her. He felt the pain of it right in his heart though, because really he did understand. Something significant had obviously taken place between Will and Liz while she had been gone. Something that he was not going to like if the tone of her voice was any indication.  
  
Liz looked torn for a long moment. Finally, she stepped forward and took his hand. His heart started to pound more quickly, instantly aware that this was the first time she had willingly touched him since he had caught her in bed with Kyle. "I think you have to know Max and I just realized that I have to tell you first. Alone. Because this is going to be hard for you to hear." She glanced down at the photo album in her hands and said, "I just need to give this to Alex. I'll be right back." She moved towards the swinging door that led into the dining room, glanced over her shoulder. "Actually, you might want to go out back and climb up to my balcony. We can be by ourselves there."  
  
"Okay." He watched her go, totally confused. Liz seemed almost too calm. It was a little scary actually. She had just been abducted by strange aliens and she didn't seem even fazed by the fact. It told him more than sheer panic on her part would have. Something was horribly wrong.  
  
He went out back and used the ladder against the brick wall to climb quickly to Liz's balcony. He closed his eyes briefly after hoisting himself over the wall. The last time he had been up here.  
  
A flash of Liz and Kyle on Liz's bed, naked and laughing, ran through his mind, but he quickly thrust it aside and leaned back against the wall. He forced his gaze away from the window and, instead, focused it on the place where he had drawn the heart with his and Liz's initials inside on the night he had accidentally gotten drunk. Memories of that night had slowly started to return over the months and, thinking about it at the moment, Max wondered how different things might have been if Liz had simply agreed to run away with him then.  
  
If she had, there would have been no Tess, no Pierce, no stupid destiny. It would have meant no Skins and, now, no Will Spencer.  
  
He tried not to feel ashamed that he really wanted to ask her to do it again - run away - even after everything that had happened, even though he knew he couldn't just escape from all of his responsibilities. But, somehow, he just knew that if they could get away from the mess their lives had become, everything would be okay again. He and Liz had been happy once. They could be again, if only they didn't have the weight of his world resting on their shoulders. He could pretend to be normal and he could keep her safe and give her the life she had told him she wanted when she had come to his room a couple of weeks before. It would just be the two of them and he knew they would be happy.  
  
But, even as he daydreamed about it, he knew that she would never agree. Liz would never let him do it. She was the one who knew that he couldn't just turn his back on who he really was. It was why she had walked away from him at the pod chamber and it was also why she had slept with Kyle - or so he was beginning to suspect. He wondered if he should confront her about that again. Maybe now that it was clear that just because she wanted it broken, their bond could not just be forgotten - at least it wouldn't be by their enemies - maybe now she would tell him the truth about why she had done it.  
  
He was going to tell her again that he didn't believe that she had slept with Kyle. It was the only thing to do. And, if she still insisted she had, he was going to ask her to prove it the only way he knew how. He would ask to connect with her. Because she could not hide from him when they did - they had never been able to hide from each other when the bond they shared was open between them.  
  
As Max sat down on Liz's lawn-chair, his elbows resting on his knees, he decided not to think about what he would do if they connected and he found out, once and for all, that Liz and Kyle had made love. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. At this point, he was so sure that it hadn't happened, he couldn't even bear to imagine dealing with it again if it had. He hoped he wasn't setting himself up for a fall.  
  
Max frowned slightly, wondered what was taking Liz so long. He stood, paced over to the edge of the balcony and stared up at the V constellation that he knew marked where his home planet was found. His thoughts drifted to what his life might have been like there. Had he really been as irresponsible and self-absorbed as Courtney said? Why had he been so against marrying Tess? Frustration was mounting now that he was starting to learn bits and pieces of his past life.  
  
Why couldn't he just remember? It would solve everything. He didn't understand why he and the others had been sent to Earth with no memories and with no real information about the path they were supposed to take. How were they supposed to help their planet without them? It all seemed like a gigantic waste of time. If they couldn't be bothered to give him the information he needed, why should he bother with them either? Even Nasedo had been little help. What was his point if not to give them the guidance they so desperately needed? Shouldn't he have told them more before he died? There had months after all.  
  
Max thought about Tess, wondered if she knew more than she was letting on. It seemed likely. She had been very eager to jump on the fact that Will had called him Zan. It was almost as if she had known that was his name before.  
  
There was no further time to pursue this line of thought though because he heard movement behind him. Turning, he saw Liz standing in her window, staring out at him. Their eyes met and held.  
  
"Is everything okay?" Max asked quietly. Her expression was still too calm - almost mask-like - like she if didn't stay that way, her entire world would come crashing down around her. He realized abruptly that she had been like this ever since he had caught her with Kyle. It was why, when she sometimes couldn't hide her real feelings, he suspected that she was lying. Liz's natural expressiveness was one of the things he loved about her. If she was trying to control it, she was hiding something.  
  
"Yes," Liz replied. "I gave the book to Alex. The pictures in there prove I'm not crazy."  
  
"What was in there?" Max didn't really understand what she was getting at, but he was willing to go at her pace. Whatever it was she had to tell him was obviously difficult for her.  
  
Liz pulled herself out onto the balcony. He tried not to feel hurt that she stayed close to the window, keeping as much distance between them as possible.  
  
"My baby pictures," Liz told him, her eyes shadowed.  
  
"Why did Alex want to see your baby pictures?" His confusion was mounting with every word out of her mouth.  
  
"Max, can I just ask you something?"  
  
Max frowned, wondered why she didn't answer him, but nodded. He took a step towards her. "Liz, you can ask me anything.  
  
There was a long pause and then Liz blurted out, "Do you still love me? And, if so, I want to know why."  
  
To be continued. 


	12. Chapter 12

[u]Part 12[/u]  
  
"What is that Alex?"  
  
Alex sighed, glanced over his shoulder at Maria, who was hovering nearby. Her expression was half concerned, half hurt that he was obviously keeping something from the rest of them. He had decided that it was not his story to tell though. When Liz had handed him the photo album she had whispered, "I'm going to talk to Max. Don't say anything to the rest of them until I do. I, at least, owe him that."  
  
But Alex had already decided that he wouldn't be telling tales out of school anyway. First of all, he wouldn't even know where to start. Secondly, he just didn't have the energy. All he really wanted to do at the moment was head home, crawl into bed and pull the covers over his head. Then he wouldn't have to deal with any of it. He wouldn't have to come up with a way to protect Liz from herself, because with every passing moment she seemed more and more determined on self-destruction. She had broken her own heart by pretending to sleep with Kyle. Alex knew that her guilt over what that lie was doing to Max became more intense by the hour. And, now, she was allowing their friends' enemies to convince her that she wasn't entirely human.Worse than that. That she one of [I]them[/I].  
  
His best friend was completely losing herself in the alien abyss and he didn't know how to stop it.  
  
The photo album had been Alex's idea. Liz's whispered words, right before Valenti had picked them up, continued to haunt him.  
  
[I]I think I believe him[/I].  
  
The photo album was Alex's attempt to make Liz face reality, to make her look at the book and acknowledge Will's lies when her own baby pictures stared up at her, showing them for what they were. But he knew already it hadn't worked. He knew it when she handed it to him that she was pretending to agree with him. But, in her heart, she didn't. He knew [I]her[/I]. It was written all over her face.  
  
The Liz Parker he had been friends with since fifth grade, who believed in cold hard facts and physical proof above all things, was letting someone who had already kidnapped her once, someone who had freely admitted his hatred for their friends, pull the wool over her eyes. This was only the latest in a long string of events that made Alex worry that the Liz he knew and love was long gone. Because, ever since Max had healed her, Liz had let her heart guide her instead of her head - something she had [I]never[/I] done before. And, in the end, when had it ever turned out for the best?  
  
Liz had kept Max's secret from him, Alex, for so long, it had almost destroyed their friendship. She had allowed herself to fall in love with Max, even though it had only ever ended up hurting her.even more so since they had learned that Max was destined for someone else. She had also followed her heart when she had believed Future Max that she had to make Max fall out of love with her - something that didn't appear to be happening, in spite of all the sacrifices Liz was making to assure it. Because hadn't Alex just witnessed the fear on Max Evans's face a few minutes before when he thought Liz might not have returned after all. In spite of it all, Max would be devastated if anything happened to Liz. Nothing had changed.  
  
Liz following her heart was a disaster waiting to happen - every single time. And it was up to him to convince her of it.  
  
The worst part of it all was that Alex actually admired the part of her that had thrown herself body and soul into Max Evans's world. He wished that he knew for certain that one day he would love someone that much, that he would know that he was loved that much in return. Which only made his goal of protecting Liz from herself pretty much dead in the water before he even started. Because he wanted her way to work, even if, up until now, it certainly hadn't.  
  
Her way was going to get them all killed. Alex slammed the album shut so that Maria couldn't see what he was looking at - so that she couldn't see the album filled with proof that Will Spencer was a liar. Liz could believe him all she wanted to. The evidence that Liz had been born to Nancy and Jeff Parker seventeen years ago was right in front of him. He didn't care that Liz's heart was telling her to trust the new boy. Liz's heart was [I]wrong[/I]. She had been right about Max Evans but she was wrong about Will Spencer.  
  
Unfortunately, for the moment, there was little he could really do to convince her of something she wasn't willing to believe. If she could look cold, hard fact in the face and still believe Will, there was only one avenue left for Alex at the moment. In order to protect and support his friend, Alex was going to have to stick by her through whatever crazy plan was likely brewing in that too smart for her own good brain of hers - even if it meant angering and distancing himself from all the others. Including Maria. And Isabel.  
  
Isabel. Isabel, whom he was fully aware had been watching him quietly, her dark eyes brighter for him than he had seen in months, since the moment he and Liz had reappeared from their adventure. Alex shook his head ruefully. Trust his luck that Isabel Evans would start to care about him again the instant he wasn't sure he wanted [I]her[/I] anymore. He clenched his jaw when he realized that Kate Spencer's face was actually invading his thoughts again. He sighed heavily. Trust his luck even more that he would be the idiot to transfer his crush from one alien to another - and not even just [I]any[/I] alien. An evil one this time!  
  
Yet, he knew deep in his gut that Kate was not evil. She had fully believed everything she had told him about Max and the others - she hated them for what she thought were good reasons. Which could only mean one thing. Will the wanker was lying to her too.  
  
He blinked when he realized Maria was still talking. "Alex!"  
  
"What?" Alex asked. Ignoring her had seemed like a good plan. Usually when he ignored her, she got frustrated and just went away. He thought she was just blowing off steam. After all, he [I]never[/I] knew anything before anyone else. How could Maria have deduced so quickly that this time he actually did?  
  
"Why are you and Liz shutting me out?" Maria asked, not sounding hysterical any longer, but, rather, simply, hurt.  
  
She was pulling out all the big guns. Maria reasonable was not someone he enjoyed dealing with. Psycho Maria he could handle easily. Compassionate and ready to listen Maria - bad news. It didn't help that he actually really did want to tell her what was going on. But he had promised Liz.  
  
"Maria, I can't." He yelped when Maria reached past him and made a grab for the closed photo album behind him on the counter. "Maria!"  
  
But Maria was already on the other side of the restaurant, which was now empty of any customers, Mr. Parker having locked up a few minutes ago. He was, as always, amenable to Liz's friends hanging around after closing. Alex guessed that he preferred to know where they were, rather than having them "cat around the desert" - one of his favorite expressions. What it [I]meant[/I] precisely, Alex didn't know. It sounded better than running from evil aliens and FBI agents through the desert though. He really wished they could just "cat around" every once in a while.  
  
Alex shook his head, glared at Maria and went after her. Apparently all the evading of evil aliens was making her slippier, he thought, annoyed, as she threw a chair into his path. A year ago he would have wrestled her to the floor already. "Kids!" Mr. Parker yelled helplessly. "Watch the glas."  
  
Too late. The pile of glasses Michael had been drying at the booth he was sitting in with Tess went flying as Alex tripped and crashed into the table. Alex made a wild grab for Maria anyway, almost caught her.  
  
"Isabel! Catch!" Maria shrieked, ignoring Liz's dad and the mess. She threw the photo album over Alex's head to Max's sister, who was now standing, looking perplexed. But not for long of course. Isabel flipped the book open, narrowed her eyes as her eyes scanned Liz's baby pictures.  
  
"Isabel," Alex ground out between clenched teeth. "Please give me that book."  
  
Isabel's dark eyes met his. They looked confused - and slightly pained. "Liz's baby book? Alex, what is this? Why won't you tell us what's going on?" She paused. "Was it really that bad?"  
  
He blinked, realized that Isabel's guilt was real. She thought he was keeping quiet because he didn't want her to feel bad about whatever "torture" he had undergone at the hands of their enemies.  
  
Alex smiled at her gently, no longer fuming. "I promise you Isabel. They didn't hurt us."  
  
There were tears in Isabel's eyes. "Alex." She obviously didn't believe him.  
  
"I swear it Iz."  
  
She stared at him for another long, charged moment and then collapsed, her relief almost a living force. Alex actually felt it sweep through him, warming his heart in a way he wasn't sure she was even aware of.  
  
It was Michael who reached Isabel before she hit the floor. "Izzy? Are you okay? None of this is your fault. You didn't actually think that?"  
  
Alex rushed to kneel beside her too. Something more serious than worrying over him was obviously affecting Isabel Evans. He wondered that he could still feel disappointed. He was used to it after all. It must have just been the momentary mistaken belief that it was actually [I]him[/I] she had been worried about that had caused it.  
  
"Isabel, what's wrong?" Alex asked now, reaching out and taking her hand. They were friends after all. If something was upsetting her, he owed it to her to be there for her.  
  
"I've been so worried! All day Alex!" She sobbed. Alex blinked. Okay, so maybe she [I]had[/I] been worried about him. He barely noticed Michael quietly withdraw, clearly wanting to give them a little privacy. Within moments their shaggy-haired friend had herded everyone else into the back - including Mr. Parker, who looked seriously worried. Alex heard the sheriff assuring him that it was just a "lover's spat." Alex rolled his eyes. If only things could ever be that simple in the alien abyss.  
  
"Shh, Izzy. It's okay," Alex soothed her, pulling her against him and stroking her long blonde hair. "I'm perfectly fine."  
  
She sniffed. "Everything is just so messed up Alex. God. I've been so horrible to you - to everyone. It wasn't until this afternoon, when I thought I'd lost you, that I even realized what a fool I am! I drive away everyone I should hold on to."  
  
Alex's heart started to pound more quickly as he looked down into the face he had fantasized about for years. Were all his dreams really finally coming true? After he had basically given up on them for good? "Well, I hope it won't take a life-threatening situation to make you remember next time," he joked mildly, still feeling a little off balance.  
  
"It wasn't even that," Isabel hiccuped. "It was when I heard that you were in the Eraser Room with Liz." Isabel trailed off, laughed slightly. "God Alex, my heart just stopped. Max knew right away it couldn't be what I thought, but."  
  
Alex frowned slightly. "That what couldn't?"  
  
"Well, you and Liz? I wouldn't put anything past her," Isabel continued darkly, "But that I would even suspect you.I mean, you're my best friend!" She laughed again. "I just should have known better," she finished quietly.  
  
Alex pulled back, stared at her. [I]Best friend?[/I] He was her best friend? One who wouldn't be in the Eraser Room with anyone else? What the hell was that supposed to mean? "Known what?" He asked, hoping for clarification.  
  
"That you'd never do that to me of course," Isabel replied, smiling at him.  
  
He frowned. "And what would I have been doing to you exactly if Liz and I [I]had[/I] been in there for real?" Alex demanded, he blood beginning to boil. He didn't care that, until a few hours ago, what Isabel was saying would have been entirely true. Just [I]where[/I] did she get off being so sure of him?([I]Might have been the strip tease,[/I] a small voice in the back of his mind reminded him. He instantly told the small voice to shut up.) Especially since she had just called him her best friend? Not boyfriend, not desired love slave. Best friend. "I mean, have you not told me a million times that you just want to be friends?" He continued, realized that he was ranting and didn't care. "Including three minutes ago when you just called me your best friend?"  
  
Isabel blinked, her gaze faltering. "Alex, I." She obviously had no idea why he was so upset.  
  
"Okay, I just have one question for you Isabel. Which is it? Best friend or boyfriend? Because I really can't be one if the other one is constantly being dangled in front of me. I can't wait for you forever."  
  
"Alex, I'm not just going to fall into your arms," Isabel flared, suddenly irritated. "I've told you. Things are complicated. I just found out that in my past life."  
  
He held up his hands. "Don't tell me. As your potential best friend - and even as your potential boyfriend -, I would like to know, but until you decide, I don't want to hear any of it. I just don't. Not to mention I have had just about enough of past lives for today, thank you very much."  
  
"Alex!" Isabel was beginning to sound worried.  
  
Alex clenched his jaw. "Yes, I know I'm being unreasonable. I realize that I am behaving in a psychotic manner which you think may be the result of potential alien brain suckage, but I swear it's not." He narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of brain suckers - bores being among the worst sort - any plans to see Grant later tonight?"  
  
There was a long pause. Isabel's eyes widened. "Well, technically."  
  
"I thought so. Okay, that decides it. No more fall-back guy for me. I'm sorry you were worried Isabel, but you know what? I think, for now, I'm done here." Alex stood up, wondered where the hell this was coming from. He felt like he was watching himself say these things. Yesterday the pleading look on Isabel's face would have melted him into a pile of butter. "Still love ya Iz, but I just don't feel like playing second fiddle anymore. If Liz comes down, tell her I went home."  
  
With that, he pushed his way out into the early evening air, taking a deep breath and letting it go. Amazing. He actually felt like he had just had a one thousand pound weight lifted off his back. Had he really just done that? Had he truly just left Isabel Evans sitting on the floor of the Crashdown Café? His goddess? Isabel Evans?  
  
Alex thought about it for a few minutes as he started off in the direction of his home because he really didn't have anywhere else to go. He hadn't been expecting to make a grand exit like that. It seemed a little anti- climactic to just go home after. He decided to go for a walk in the park, apparently needing a little more fresh air in order to truly grasp what he had just done.  
  
He realized fairly quickly that he did not regret it. Alex did not doubt that Isabel cared about him, that she would be deeply upset if anything ever happened to him, but the hesitation she had shown when he had asked about Grant had confirmed what he was beginning to realize he had known for a long time. Isabel did not love him. She liked him a whole lot, liked the way he made her feel about herself. He was the first boy to know the truth about her he was also the first boy to not be fooled by her ice queen exterior. She liked that she could be herself around him and he continued to pine for her. It was humiliating to think she simply expected him to be there for her when she needed him but, in the end, only as a friend. She didn't love him.  
  
The fact that she could run so hot and cold, even after everything they had been through together, only confirmed it. Maybe someday they could be friends, but not right away. Because he knew he was still precariously perched on the edge of a big cliff when it came to her. One glance from those dark eyes and it was entirely possible he would fall head over heels for her again. Walking away from her five minutes before had probably been the most difficult thing he had ever done - even if it hadn't seemed like it at the time. But he would not be second fiddle any longer. He wanted someone who [I]really[/I] loved him.  
  
Alex was pleased with his new resolve to get over Isabel once and for all. He was strong enough to do it. He would help Liz and then he would leave the whole Czechoslovakian mess behind him. Because, if he broke his ties to Isabel, as he fully intended to do, there was nothing binding him to any of them anymore. Not once Liz was back to normal. He could do it! Alex Charles Whitman was not going to be anyone's whipping boy any longer!  
  
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked at a can on the path in front of him. He frowned slightly, realized that his heart was beginning to hurt. That damn conscience. Guilt already! He quashed it ruthlessly. He deserved to look out for himself for once.  
  
But Isabel had looked so sad.Something was clearly haunting her. She hadn't meant to make him feel like crap. He knew she hadn't. She just hadn't been thinking. She couldn't help it if she liked Grant.  
  
"Stop it!" Alex ordered himself aloud. "Weak! You are so weak Whitman!"  
  
Of course, saying it out loud didn't help the fact that Isabel's eyes were haunting him. He hadn't given her much of a chance to tell him what was upsetting her. Maybe if he had listened, it wouldn't have come out sounding quite so bad. What kind of friend was he anyway?  
  
"Stop it," he repeated firmly. "Let it go! She has Michael and Max and Tess! She has more than proven that she only wants you when there's no one better around."  
  
He wasn't convincing himself. His feet were actually trying to make him turn around. They wanted him to go back to the Crashdown.  
  
He couldn't! If he did that, he'd apologize. Unacceptable!  
  
"Bloody hell!" Alex yelled before he could stop himself. "Is it too much to ask for a little peace?"  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
He literally jumped about three feet into the air. He was absolutely sure that he had been completely alone moments before, no one in front or in back of him. He was in a fairly open area of the park too, his experiences in the alien abyss making dark shadows anathema.  
  
In spite of all this, Kate Spencer stood in front of him now, staring at him.  
  
"Where the hell did you come from?" He demanded, his heart in his throat. Will the wanker better not be coming for Liz again. Alex didn't know what he would do to him if he was, but it would be.well, something. So the wanker had alien fire bolts. So what? And his knees were [I]not[/I] quaking. They just.weren't.  
  
"I teleported," Kate explained. "I'm alone by the way. So you can stop looking."  
  
"Holy crap!" Alex exclaimed. "Am I supposed to be scared?" He asked, narrowing his eyes, deciding to ignore the fact that he kind of was. But not really. "Did you change your mind about killing me?" He realized that he actually wasn't scared anymore, now that he knew Kate was by herself. He wondered why he wasn't afraid of this girl - not at all.  
  
"Of course not," Kate snapped. "I told you, [I]we[/I] don't do that."  
  
"But my friends do?" Alex flared back, annoyed almost immediately. As angry and as confused as he was about his relationship with Isabel, he would not let this girl continue to insult her or her fellow aliens. Kate didn't even [I]know[/I] them. While his Czechoslovakians could be as irritating as hell, they weren't evil and they didn't deserve to be hated - especially not for a past they didn't even remember.  
  
Kate ignored his question. "Where [I]are[/I] your friends?" She asked instead.  
  
"Why?" Alex glared at her. "You want me to hand them to you on a silver platter, just because I told you I don't think you're evil?"  
  
Kate apparently dismissed his sarcasm because she asked him quite calmly, "Why didn't Zan come after us? It's been over two hours. You should have led them straight back to us by now."  
  
"[I]Max,[/I]" Alex emphasized the alien king's Earth name deliberately, "Is not like that. And he's with Liz. She's telling him the crazy story your brother made up to freak both of them out."  
  
Kate frowned. "It's not made up Alex. Liz Parker [I]is[/I] Rowena."  
  
"She is not," Alex replied firmly. "Did Will send you?" His earlier panic returned. "Wait a minute! If he's not here, where is he? He didn't go to the Crashdown, did he?" Alex's mind was filling with images of Michael, and maybe even Max, blasting first and asking questions later. As much as he distrusted Will and would enjoy seeing it, he knew it would not be what Liz wanted. He tried not to think about the fact that he was also reflecting on how upset Kate would be should anything happen to her brother. Why he cared, he wasn't sure, particularly since he was being downright nasty to her at the moment, but he did.  
  
"Will's still at the motel," Kate told him, sounding mildly bitter if Alex was not mistaken. "He trusts Rowena to come back to him. Now that he has told her the truth, he will not pressure her."  
  
"You don't sound like you approve," Alex commented, his heart beginning to return to a regular tempo.  
  
"She was clearly taken from her pod too early. She has no memories. Until she is made to remember, she won't," Kate said. "And the longer she is allowed to stay under Zan's power, the harder she will be to convince that he is her enemy."  
  
"She'll never be convinced of that," Alex said. "She loves him."  
  
Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you said that they no were no longer together."  
  
Alex mentally kicked himself. "Er.Well, they're not. But they still have a soft spot for each other," he finished lamely.  
  
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway." Kate waved her hand in the air dismissively. "She will not love him when she remembers."  
  
"He is not the same person," Alex stated. "I'm telling you." He trailed off, knowing that he would be continuing the argument in vain. She did not believe him. Except.  
  
There was a long silence. Alex watched a bevy of emotions play across Kate's face. He recognized disbelief and frustration that he would not accept her version of what Max was supposed to be like. But he also thought he saw a slight glimmer of hope there. It made him wonder.  
  
"Did you know Zan?" He asked gently.  
  
"I knew him," she replied, closing her eyes. "Very well, but only before he took the throne. I was raised with Vilandra you see. He was different then - kind, but restless. He didn't want to be king, not then. His father sent him away in the summer before I left Antar - said that he was going to make Zan accept his destiny if it was the last thing he ever did - and it seemed to work. The old king could not have known what he had done though. Because when Zan came back."  
  
"He had changed?"  
  
"Yes." Kate's eyes snapped open, as whatever memory she had been living disappeared. "It is why I do not blame you for not seeing what he is. He has always been a marvelous dissembler."  
  
"So you think Max is pretending to be something he isn't?" Alex asked. "That once he accepts his destiny, once he accepts he will someday be a king, he will change?"  
  
"I don't necessarily think he's pretending," Kate said carefully. She looked right at him. "You told me before that you were a good judge of character. I see that you are. You do not fear me at all, do you?"  
  
"No," Alex agreed. "And you don't fear me?"  
  
"No." Kate smiled slightly. Alex thought she wanted to say something else, but she didn't elaborate. Instead she said, "My point is that perhaps you are right about Max Evans. Perhaps he has not become the monster he is capable of being. Not yet anyway."  
  
Alex frowned. "But you still think he might?"  
  
"He [I]will[/I]," Kate insisted. "It is who he is. His true nature will win out." She swallowed. "And may the stars help us all if we allow it to happen. We cannot be fooled Alex. Not again. There is far too much at stake."  
  
With that, Kate closed her clear blue eyes. Alex jumped when she disappeared into thin air.  
  
He felt his blood run cold when he understood that she was really gone. Because her words were just beginning to make sense to him.  
  
Kate Spencer had come to him wanting to be convinced that Max really was a good person. Because, for her, it only proved more strongly what she was sure he would become. He, Alex, had not convinced her to leave Max alone. In fact, he had convinced her of quite the opposite. What had he done?  
  
It was a rhetorical question of course. He knew [I]exactly[/I] what he had done. Although she had not said it in so many words, he had just convinced one of Max Evans's enemies even more firmly that he had to die.  
  
To be continued. 


	13. Chapter 13

[u]Part 13[/u]  
  
He was shocked and, underlying that, hurt. While Max was very good at masking his emotions, he had never been able to hide from her - not since he had saved her anyway. Liz felt an overwhelming urge to throw her arms around him, to take that look off his face. She could see the turmoil of confusion and despair he was struggling with, could [I]feel[/I] it in fact.  
  
Was this another sign that Will was right? Was it because she had the alien gift of empathy that Max's pain was her pain as well? Deep down though she knew it wasn't that. This was Max. It was because she loved him that she shared his grief.  
  
"I don't know what you want me to say," he finally said hoarsely. "I really don't know what you want from me anymore Liz."  
  
[I]I want you to be safe. I want you to be happy.[/I] The thoughts came unbidden, more natural than breathing. [I]I want to stop hurting you.[/I] But, somehow, Liz knew that none of those hopes for him were anywhere in his future. Because he would not be safe until she figured what Will wanted from her. And he would not be happy because, in order for her to find that out, she was going to have to let Will in. She was going to have to hurt Max even more than she already had. She had to protect him.and to protect him, she needed information, which meant getting close to Will.  
  
Liz had not been as out of it on the way back from the motel as she thought Alex suspected. Instead, she had been deep in thought, trying to figure out exactly how they had all ended up in such a complicated mess and how she could fix it.  
  
She thought Will was wrong about who she was, but she no longer thought he was lying. The more she reflected on it, the more she understood that he truly believed that she was this Rowena - the love of his life and Max's victim. But she also knew Max. She knew that he never could have been the monster that Will made him out to be, not even in a different lifetime. His essence - his soul - could not have changed so drastically. Not Max. Something had clearly gone wrong in their past lives - something that had to be fixed in this one.  
  
Rowena of Valonia was the key. And if Liz had to pretend to be Rowena for a while, until she figured it all out - until she neutralized the threat to Max's life that Will represented - then she would do it.  
  
But, first, she had to make Max understand. She had to try and modify how much this was going to hurt him. And, somehow, she had to do it without telling him the whole truth.  
  
"I want you to think about it," Liz told Max softly. "Do you love me?"  
  
Max stared at her for a long moment, vulnerable and still confused. "Of course I love you Liz. I can't just turn it off you know," he added bitterly.  
  
"Why Max?" Liz asked gently. "Why? Loving me has only ever hurt you, has only ever put you in danger. It's not worth it! Why can't you see that?"  
  
"Because I [I]know[/I] you," Max replied, suddenly firm. Liz felt her heart start to beat more quickly as his spine straightened and his eyes flashed with anger, reminding her of the night in Copper Summit, when his plea for the truth had almost broken her. "You're lying to me Liz."  
  
She opened her mouth to protest but Max raised his hand to stop her. "Liz, I'm not an idiot. I've seen how upset you are lately. You're hiding something and I think I have a right to know what it is. You didn't sleep with Kyle - did you?" His voice was raised.  
  
Liz bit her lip, disbelieving that after everything she had done to convince him, in spite of all his pain, his belief in her was still so strong, he refused to accept it. For one moment, the temptation to admit he was right, and to then kiss him senseless for having so much faith in her, was so strong, she barely resisted.  
  
They didn't belong together. Being with her put him in danger. What had happened with Will that afternoon only emphasized it. She knew, deep down, that Will was not evil. But she had also seen the obsessive glint in his eye when he had spoken of Rowena. If Will truly believed she was Rowena, he would hurt Max to keep him away from her.  
  
And the only way to make sure that Max stayed away from her of his own volition was to keep lying.  
  
"I did Max," she said, pressing her lips together. "It was the only way I could think of to make you back off."  
  
There was a long moment of silence. Liz could hear Max's ragged breathing. She could feel his impatience, could feel that he [I]still[/I] didn't believe her. Why not? Just that morning, she was sure that he had finally bought it. What had changed? She [I]had[/I] to convince him!  
  
"Max, what do you want from [I]me[/I]?" Liz demanded. "I'll always be grateful to you for saving my life, but I've told you, I won't give up my life for you. Not anymore!"  
  
Max remained quiet, his eyes unreadable. Liz continued to babble, desperate to convince him. "I know you latched on to me when you were a kid, that you built this whole fantasy world around what you wanted me to be, but I'm just normal! I don't have the strength to be with you. It's why I walked away from you at the pod chamber and it's why I slept with Kyle. I want to get away from [I]you![/I] I'm trying so hard to keep away."  
  
Max's eyes were glittering now. He still didn't say anything. Liz frowned. Why did he suddenly seem pleased?  
  
"Max!" She exclaimed in frustration, frantically searching her memory for what she might have said to make him look that way. "Will you say something? Please?"  
  
Max complied, surprising Liz completely though by changing the subject. "Liz, what happened this afternoon?"  
  
"What?" Liz demanded, distracted. She was still trying to figure out why Max no longer seemed devastated. In fact, he was about as smug as the cat that had swallowed the canary.  
  
"Courtney told Michael and I some stuff this afternoon," Max elaborated. "Will is most likely my enemy. The fact that he released you and Alex without any trouble at all just strikes me as a bit weird. Even if you don't care about me at all anymore, he has to know that I love you." He paused, added, "Anyone can see it. I never realized how obvious I was until today. There were these sophomores."  
  
Liz cut him off. "What else did Courtney tell you?" She asked, feeling nervous for some reason she didn't understand.  
  
"Well, I didn't want to marry Tess in my previous life. There's a surprise," he muttered, off-handedly, before continuing. "Apparently I was something of a selfish bastard too. I wasn't a very good king and I had a mean streak as well. Basically the whole star system appears to be better off without me." Liz could hear the slight tremor in Max's voice. What he had learned from Courtney had obviously upset him, although he was trying to hide it. "It all makes me wonder why anyone would want Zan back anyway. Maybe I should just let your new best friend Will kill me and be done with it."  
  
Liz's horror must have been reflected on her face because Max quickly continued, "I'm sorry. I don't really mean that." He collapsed onto a deck chair, as though the weight of the world had suddenly been deposited on his shoulders. "My experience with Pierce and what happened to Nasedo." He trailed off. "I don't want to die. I'm too much of a coward to let them kill me, even if it would probably make everyone else's life easier."  
  
Liz went and sat near him, barely refraining from touching him, her natural instinct. "Max, you can't think."  
  
"That everyone would be better off with me dead?" He asked, snorting slightly. "Sometimes I really do Liz." She flinched when he looked directly at her. "Would you have to lie all the time if I was dead? Would you have to through life acting completely contrary to your nature if I didn't exist?" His voice lowered and he raised a hand and gently cupped her cheek. "I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, or hurt you, or make you feel sorry for me. I hope you know that. It's just that you've always been the only person I could be completely truthful with. I feel like I can tell you things I can't even tell Isabel or Michael." He paused. "I miss that most of all I think. Knowing that I can say anything to you and you won't judge me or hate me. I even miss you telling me that I need to get over myself." He quirked a weak grin. "Because I definitely need that sometimes. I need [I]you[/I] Liz."  
  
Liz felt tears filling her eyes. He was saying everything she had been thinking since the pod chamber, everything she had thought about all summer when she had tried to convince herself that maybe she could be with Max, in spite of what his mother had said in the orb, in spite of Tess. It was why she had not bee altogether surprised when Future Max had told her that she had given in during that other life, that they had been together. Because, more than anything, she [I]missed[/I] him. She missed everything about him.  
  
But most of all, she missed how he wanted to tell her things from his deepest soul, things that he would be ashamed to tell anyone else. She used to be able to say anything to him too. She could tell him anything because he knew it anyway.  
  
It was what being soul mates meant.  
  
And, here he was reminding her of what she was giving up, weakening her. She couldn't help herself. She reached out and took his hands. A feeling of sweet relief flowed through her as his fingers twined through hers. Her heart started to beat more quickly.  
  
"Max." Liz felt his sadness through the connection that had sprung to life from the moment she touched him, could feel his burgeoning hope that maybe he had finally gotten through to her. Because everything he said was true. She [I]was[/I] lying to him. She was betraying everything they were supposed to be. Just because [I]he[/I] - or at least a future version of himself - had asked her to, it didn't make it right. [I]This[/I] Max hadn't had a choice in the matter.  
  
She opened her mouth to tell him everything, to tell him about Future Max, about Kyle, about what Will had told her, about how she thought Will might be telling her the truth, as much as she was trying to deny it.  
  
She opened her mouth and nothing came out. Her entire throat seized up and she stared at him helplessly, wondering why this was so difficult. Why did every single decision she made when it came to Max have to be about life or death?  
  
Max must have sensed the difficulty she was having in speaking though because he said, "I don't blame you for wanting a normal life Liz. I don't like what knowing me has made you do. I don't like that you're constantly in danger. I don't like that you worry constantly about protecting [I]me[/I], that you never worry about yourself. I [I]know[/I] that I should let you walk away because, in the end, it will be better for you." Max squeezed her hand lightly. "But the thing is Liz, you're [I]not[/I] walking away. I know you're not. In fact, after today, you're more connected to me than ever. I just [I]know[/I] it. I don't know how I do, but I do."  
  
Liz stared at him, disbelieving that he was so right. How did he know all of this? It couldn't just be because of the connection they shared, could it? Did he really know her so well?  
  
[I]Of course he does,[/I] a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her. [I]Just like you know him. How else did you come up with the plan to pretend to sleep with Kyle? You know him and you thought of what would most devastate him and you [/I]did[I] it - for his own good.[/I]  
  
Again, Max seemed to be reading her mind because he said, "I know that what happened with Kyle." He swallowed, forged ahead. "I know that it hurt [I]you[/I] even more than it hurt me. I can't imagine what happened that made you think that you had to do that. I know that it has to be about more than the fact that I wouldn't leave you alone though. Because if I had [I]truly[/I] believed that it was what you wanted, I would have. But I know you didn't Liz. You still wanted me then as much as I wanted you. I [I]know[/I] you did. When I touched you outside the Crashdown on the night Nasedo died, I [I]felt[/I] it." He paused, looked directly at her, almost pleading. "Liz, please tell me the truth."  
  
As she stared at him, as she gazed into his beloved eyes, she almost caved. She [I]almost[/I] gave in. But this was Max. How could she tell him the truth when it might still result in the end of the world? When it might result that the purity and beauty of their love would destroy the only home either of them had ever known?  
  
Why did he have to make it so difficult? Why couldn't he give up on her? How could he still have so much faith in her, after [I]everything[/I]?  
  
"Max, why? Why can't you believe it? Why can't you just accept that I want an ordinary life?" She demanded desperately, willing him to let it go, but, deep down, wanting him to convince her - wanting him to [I]make[/I] her tell him.  
  
"Because you're an extraordinary person Liz Parker," Max replied quietly, brushing the tears, that were falling unheeded now, aside with his thumbs. Both of his hands were now gently cradling her face, stroking lightly, sending shivers of desire and love throughout her body. "You showed me that every time you tried to convince me to take a chance with you, and, then you showed me every time I kissed you. I knew it the first time I laid eyes on you in that playground. I knew when I saw you that day that if you knew the truth about me, you'd accept it, that you wouldn't be afraid."  
  
Liz could feel herself getting lost in his dark eyes. Why did being with him always just feel so [I]right[/I]? This was where she belonged, this was where she was [I]normal[/I]. His lips were only a breath away from hers now. "Max."  
  
"Liz, if you can't tell me, then show me. Please. Show me what's wrong. All you have to do is choose [I]us[/I]. Liz, please!" His breath was warm on her face. Her entire body was tingling, pushing her to do exactly what he wanted her to - exactly what [I]she[/I] wanted anyway. He knew it. He always did. And, finally, she understood why he couldn't let go.  
  
It would be so easy. All it would take was one kiss and all the secrets would be out, all the pain would be over. She and Max would be back together, stronger than ever. It would be so easy to give in.  
  
Even if she wasn't quite sure, he might not see anything anyway. There hadn't [I]always[/I] been flashes when they had kissed in the past. Maybe she should test it out. If he saw, then he was meant to - it was fate. If he didn't, she would know once and for all that she was choosing the right path, that she had to keep pushing him away.  
  
She knew that she was trying to come up with excuses to allow him to kiss her, but, in the end, [I]not[/I] allowing it would be like telling herself to stop breathing. She just could [I]not[/I] say no. Not again. This was Max and she loved him. She [I]wanted[/I] him. And, in every way, except for a destiny that he had not chosen, he was hers. She had tried to push him away and, yet, still he loved her. She had done her best. It had to be enough.  
  
Liz felt Max's lips brush hers lightly, tentatively, ready to stop if she demanded it. She was weak, she knew it. But the instant their lips meant, there was no turning back. As the kiss deepened, she was overwhelmed by how much she loved him, was reminded of how she had willingly chosen to spend the rest of her life in misery to protect him.  
  
Because, the first flash, as always, was of her.  
  
It was the scene in the playground where he saw her and the instant love he felt for her careened through her veins and into her heart, warming her in a way she couldn't begin to describe.  
  
But, she realized, after she started to control the flashes, started to sort through them, finding it easier than she ever had before, that something was different. Suddenly, she thought of Will. She remembered all he had told her and [I]why[/I], for a while, she had believed him when he had told her that she was not human - that she was an alien queen named Rowena and that she was his wife.  
  
This was her gift. Seeing beneath the surface. Understanding the true motives and the true hearts of the people she came in contact with. It had always been her gift. She [I]remembered[/I] it.  
  
Because, this time, beneath the love Max felt for her in that memory when they were both children, she also felt his heart skip a beat - in recognition. He had [I]known[/I] her. She had been right. For the first time ever, she [I]heard[/I] Max's thoughts at that moment in her own mind. Instead of just feeling what he felt, she [I]thought[/I] what he [/I]thought[/I].  
  
It was so crystal clear, she didn't understand how she could not have heard it before, how she could have ignored it for so long.  
  
[I]Rowena.[/I]  
  
Max, as a little boy, in his mind, called her Rowena.  
  
It was all true then. She wondered why was no longer upset about it. Her entire life was a lie, but she no longer even [I]cared[/I] to deny any of it, DNA and baby pictures be damned.  
  
And, yet, she [I]knew[/I] why she wasn't scared. It was all there in the connection she and Max were sharing. Because, without a shadow of a doubt, she knew that Zan of Antar and Rowena of Valonia had not been enemies at all.  
  
To be continued. 


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: Thanks, as always, for the wonderful feedback folks. I know that the truth is coming out excruciatingly slowly, but we take a giant leap forward here...as you soon shall see.  
  
[u]Part 14[/u]  
  
For one precious moment, Max ignored the flashes that came fast and furious as soon as Liz's lips touched his. He allowed himself to revel in the softness of her skin, the silkiness of her hair as his hands came up to cradle her delicate skull. He deepened the kiss, barely daring to believe that he had actually finally broken through her resolve.  
  
He could tell that she was trying to refrain from giving him flashes, could feel her will at work, but also knew that her desire to shut him out was weak. Her heart wanted him to know, even if her head didn't, and she could not hide from him. Not anymore.  
  
At first he didn't understand what the flashes were telling him. They were confused and random, Liz's emotional state making them so. The image of his own face as a little boy was the only one he recognized immediately. He felt her love for him, even then, although he could tell that she didn't know about it.  
  
The next image he understood was the instant following the shooting in the Crashdown, Liz's awe and fascination running through his veins and then, the moment when she knew she had fallen in love with him, when he told her that it was too dangerous for them to pursue any sort of relationship. The flashes ran through all the moments they had shared together before they knew who he really was. The moments of happiness were mingled with small hurts and pains, but nothing matched the complete sense of despair and terror Liz had felt when he was held by Pierce - which was then replaced with the calm realization that here was her true love, that they were both way too young - not to mention the extenuating circumstance that he was an alien - but that she didn't care as they kissed in the abandoned van in the woods. She had been scared, but also accepting, relieved that she had found him, because what if there had been no Max?  
  
And then the horror of finding out about his destiny with Tess; a completely miserable summer in Florida, where she picked up the phone to call him at least ten times a day. The feeling of mixed panic and joy when he approached her on the street outside Whittaker's office.and, then, the sense of relief when she finally accepted that she couldn't turn him away again. They were meant to be.hadn't the fortune teller told her so?  
  
[I]I, Liz Parker, take Max Evans.[/I]  
  
[I]Do you really see grey?[/I]  
  
[I]As I threw the flowers up to you, I remembered that you preferred white roses.[/I]  
  
[I]He sat down! You got him to sit down with her![/I]  
  
[I]The night of Gomez, I came to your room. That's the night that things between us were cemented.[/I]  
  
[I]I've fought a thousand battles.but watching you do that was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.[/I]  
  
[I]This is a different world.[/I]  
  
Max broke the kiss, his heart thundering in his chest. "Liz!" He whispered, his forehead pressed against hers. He opened his eyes, could see that she was staring at him too, tears streaming down her cheeks. "What.what was that?"  
  
********************************************  
  
Kate knocked on Will's door. Her brother opened it a moment later, his face blank. He eyed her, then stepped aside and let her enter the room.  
  
Kate's eyes immediately fell on the bed - or, rather, on what was sitting on the bed. She sighed, felt a pang of worry. He was pining. He started to think about doing crazy things when he pined.crazy things like handing over the entire government of his planet. "Will."  
  
Will picked up the small, stained piece of fabric, stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans. "What?"  
  
"I thought you said you were going to give Liz time."  
  
"I am giving her time," Will retorted, turning to meet her gaze again. "Where have you been?"  
  
Kate scowled at him. "Don't try and change the subject. You want to give that to her, don't you?"  
  
"I want to, but I won't," Will replied, squinting at her. His eyes looked strangely bright, like he had been crying. He had never cried in front of her and she knew he certainly wasn't going to start now, but the fact that traces even remained at all.He was losing it. Her stoic brother was actually losing it. "She has to remember on her own or it won't mean anything," he continued.  
  
Kate approached him, gently touched his arm. "Will, it might be the best thing to do. She may never remember on her own. Zan has constant access to her. He might make her remember things wrong. Don't forget that he has Ava with him."  
  
"Ava would never do such a thing," Will scoffed, moving to the sink in the corner of the room and running the water. He cupped his hands under the faucet, collected a small amount and then splashed his face. When he had finished drying himself off, his expression was again carefully neutral. "It would kill her to even allow Zan to pretend to love someone else. You know what she was like."  
  
Kate sighed, collapsed on the bed. "I do know," she agreed. "But."  
  
Will frowned. "But what?"  
  
She grimaced. "You asked where I went." She trailed off, knew that he was going to be angry. "I started off looking for Jack, but then I went somewhere else instead."  
  
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, waiting.  
  
She hated when he did that. It always made her feel like a small child waiting for her father to yell at her. Not that she really knew what it was like to have a father - at least not in this life. She thought briefly of Liz Parker's dad, whom they had met in the Crashdown earlier. What had Ro's life been like with two parents who loved her? How had she even ended up there? How had she not known about her alien heritage before today? She had been right to seek out Alex Whitman the way she had. He knew things, could give them information Rowena might never provide. Kate believed that more now than ever.  
  
If she had doubted it before, she did not now. Rowena believed herself in love with Zan. And though he had not said as much, Kate suspected that Alex truly believed that Zan loved her back. If Max Evans was playing some sort of game with her brother's wife, than he was apparently an extremely good actor.  
  
But, then, he had been last time too.  
  
The horrible part was though, as much as she told herself that, as much as she tried to convince herself that he was putting on an act, that he was using his charm to bind Rowena to him, Kate couldn't help herself. She believed Alex. She believed him that Max Evans was not a bad guy, that he truly did love Liz Parker.  
  
Could his lack of memory really have changed his personality so drastically? Was he a superior version of the being he had been in his past life? Could things really turn out so well for all of them?  
  
And, yet, he had destroyed the Harvest, had basically sentenced her people to a living death. How could a good person have done such a thing?  
  
No, he had to be pretending, just like he had before. There was no other explanation. She could not believe Alex. She knew that he was not lying to her, was only telling her the truth as he knew it, but he was wrong. She felt a pang that soon he would have to confront how truly evil his "friend" was. She remembered how much it hurt to find out that you were so completely mistaken about someone. Because, when Khivar had first come to her, in her past life, to tell her what Zan had done, she had refused to believe it too.  
  
"Kate, where did you go?" Will demanded, impatiently.  
  
"I went and spoke to Alex Whitman again," she replied, looking away. "Don't bother getting mad about it. I know it was dumb, but I just felt like he might tell me the truth."  
  
"About what?" Will asked, coming to sit beside her. "What did he tell you?"  
  
"About Max Evans," Kate told him. "What he's like, who he is."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Well, Alex firmly believes Max is in love with Liz." Kate rolled her eyes. "He tried to pretend he didn't, but he does think that."  
  
"He thinks that we're using Ro to try and hurt Zan, is that it?" Will asked, sounding weary.  
  
"Yeah, I think he does. It sounds like Max and Liz are definitely on the outs right now though. They're not together, as a couple anyway. I'm not sure why, but Alex told me that Ro is with him now. She went straight to him from here, just like I knew she." She stopped, could have kicked herself. "I'm sorry."  
  
"They're together right now?" Will swallowed. Kate could almost see him struggling to control his jealousy. "Well, it's to be expected. She has known him for a long while, knows what he is. If anyone can help her to figure out if I'm lying or not, it's him."  
  
"But Will, what if he's messing with her mind?" Kate demanded. "He can tell her all sorts of lies about us and then she'll never trust us." The thought of Rowena hating her.It was enough to make her feel physically ill. She had been jealous of Ro on many occasions in the past, but it hadn't stopped Kate from loving her like a sister. While Vilandra had been her kindred spirit, Rowena had always been everything Kate had aspired to be. The idea that she might stay with their enemies, that they might have to fight her to get to Zan.It was intolerable. Not to mention that Will would never do it. If Rowena joined Zan against them, their side would lose before the battle even started.  
  
"Ro will get all the facts before she makes her decision," Will said firmly. "She hasn't changed much Kate. Even through our brief conversation, I could tell that she is the same. Though she speaks with him first, she will come back to me.If even just to get my side of the story." He stood up. "Now, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm assuming you never did track down Jack then?"  
  
"No," Kate frowned. "Where is he? I'm worried about him. He hasn't checked in all day."  
  
"Jack knows what he's doing," Will shrugged. "He'll come back when he has something worthwhile to talk about."  
  
"Don't you worry about him at all?" Kate demanded. "He's such a dork sometimes Will. He doesn't know how to stay detached. If he meets up with one of them, he might."  
  
"He won't do anything he's not supposed to," Will said mildly. "He never does." He eyed her, slightly amused. "And since when do you use the word dork? You've been hanging around humans too much."  
  
Kate rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You're going to be sorry when we find him in a pile of dust somewhere." She was flippant but the mere idea of anything happening to her cousin was enough to make Kate's stomach start doing flip-flops. He was one of only two people on this planet she could truly depend on. Their people's days were numbered after all, unless they found the granolith. It was another reason that making Rowena side with them was so important. If she knew where the granolith was, or if she could get the information out of Zan.  
  
Kate's eyes narrowed. Maybe it wouldn't be a complete disaster after all if Zan was actually in love with Rowena. For the first time, she felt a pang of hope that it might be so. Because if they could get their hands on the granolith, they would win. It was as simple as that.  
  
"Did you ask Rowena about the granolith?" Kate asked her brother abruptly. He looked slightly surprised by the abrupt change of topic, but answered her anyway.  
  
"I never got a chance. I was preoccupied with the fact that se sort of freaked out on me and all," he replied, a little sarcastic. Kate glanced at him sharply. He was trying to hide how much it had hurt him that Rowena had been so upset by what he had told her. The last thing Will ever wanted to do was hurt Rowena. That it had happened, even so indirectly, would haunt him for a long time.  
  
"Hmmmmmm." Kate said, pretending not to notice his upheaval. "I wonder if the granolith could do anything to help her remember."  
  
Will started, suddenly interested. "That's actually a pretty good point," he admitted grudgingly. He sighed. "And yet another reason that we need to figure out where the hell it is."  
  
Kate smiled suddenly, an idea popping into her head. "We don't necessarily have to go through Zan and the others," she said. She ignored the pang of guilt that was trying to make her stop from saying this. It didn't matter that she sort of liked him. Her brother came first and always would. If finding the granolith could help to bring Rowena back to Will, then she would use him to make it happen. "I can maybe plant the idea in a receptive ear."  
  
Will had been pacing, his hands behind his back, his frustration about the hidden granolith evident. He looked up now, met her eyes and understood. "Alex Whitman."  
  
"Right." The way Will's face lit up - she was doing the right thing. She knew she was. "He'll suggest it to Ro and Zan and then."  
  
"We follow them."  
  
Their matching blue eyes met and held. The hope she saw in her brother's eyes - it killed any last remnant of remorse she had over the fact that she was going to use Alex - someone she had come to like considerably, even in the short time she had known him.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?"  
  
"Nothing. Nothing at all." She closed her eyes and pictured Alex's face in her mind and then [I]willed[/I] herself to be with him.  
  
She felt her body breaking apart as her mind reached out and found the place it was looking for. It was harder to teleport to specific people than it was to decide on a location. If she had had time to figure out exactly where Alex was, she could have envisioned the place and found herself there much more easily. But she didn't have that luxury. She had to do this before she chickened out.before she started to regret that she might be losing a new friendship before it even really had a chance to start.  
  
Of course, she should have realized that where Alex was might not necessarily be somewhere she should be. Because, when she felt her body solidify again, after she knew that she was back in one piece, she opened her eyes and her heart stopped.  
  
Her eyes met Zan's and she knew that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.  
  
********************************************  
  
There was a long pause. Max watched the emotions play across her face, could feel her turmoil as she tried to figure out what to say. "Just tell me the truth. Please," he whispered. "Liz, please."  
  
He saw the exact moment where she decided to honour his wish, his most ardent wish that she would stop lying to him - and herself. "It was you," she replied simply. "I would do anything for you Max. You asked me to and I did it."  
  
"That was me? I don't understand." But he thought he did. He had recognized himself in those flashes of events he knew that he had not lived, at least not directly. He had been there, but not as a player in the disaster they had both wrought.  
  
That had been him. Another him perhaps, but him just the same. He had recognized himself in the way she felt about him - in the way she loved him.  
  
"You came to me from the future and told me that if I didn't make you fall out of love with me, everyone would die because Tess would leave town and you wouldn't be strong enough without her. If we ended up together, like we were supposed to, the world would end and it would be all our fault." Her eyes were glassy as she recited the story, as she relived the horror of being told such a thing. "And now I've ruined everything because I just can't bear to lie to you anymore Max. I just can't!"  
  
Max pulled her against him, felt his heart breaking as she sobbed. How had she endured all this on her own? How could he have ever asked her to do such a thing? "I am so sorry Liz."  
  
"It's not your fault Max," Liz said, pulling back and giving him a watery smile. "It wasn't your fault then and it isn't now. You did the only thing you thought you could. I just wasn't strong enough. He was wrong to trust me. He should have known that I can't live without you. You've always had too much faith in me though." She shook her head. "Isn't it ironic? It's your faith in me that made you know that I didn't sleep with Kyle, but it was also your faith in me that made me try to convince you of it - because [I]you[/I] asked me to. It was a stupid plan. He should have gone to Tess. She would have been strong enough." She trailed off. "I just hope that she's strong enough to stay."  
  
Max shook his head. "No Liz. I have faith in you because I love you. You can't blame yourself for letting me. I can't help it. I am meant to love you and because I do, I believe in you. It's just who you are. Even when everything looked completely screwed up, when I wondered if I had been completely wrong about you, I knew I wasn't. I've seen your soul Liz. I [I]know[/I] you." He paused, tried to figure out some way to comfort her. "I've [I]always[/I] known you."  
  
Liz's eyes widened. "What did you say?" She whispered.  
  
"I said I feel like I've always known you," he repeated, confused.  
  
"No you didn't," she retorted. "You said you've always known me, not that you [I]feel[/I] like you have."  
  
Max blinked. "Er, okay. So? What's the difference? Either way, it's the truth."  
  
Liz sighed, leaned forward, resting her cheek against his chest. His skin tingled under his shirt where her arms wrapped around him. "God, Max. You have no idea. The Future Max thing is just the tip of the iceburg. I don't even know where to start."  
  
"Just start at the beginning," Max told her, stroking her hair lightly. "We have all the time in the world."  
  
"Um, I beg to differ."  
  
Max's head snapped up and he stared in astonishment at Alex, who was staring right back at him from the ladder on the other side of the balcony. "Alex? Are you okay?" Max didn't think he had ever seen Alex's face as white as it currently was.  
  
Alex didn't reply to Max, looked at Liz instead as he pulled himself over the ledge, grimacing. "Jeez. I thought I was in better shape." He muttered. "So, you told him huh?"  
  
"Yeah," Liz sighed heavily. "I just couldn't do it anymore Alex."  
  
"Alex knew?" Max asked, relieved that she hadn't borne the entire burden alone.  
  
"I just told him today. After what happened this morning, I had to tell someone."  
  
"What happened this morning?" But he realized he already knew. "Will Spencer."  
  
She flinched against him, but agreed. "Will." He tried to ignore the pang of jealousy that ran through him at the way she sad the other alien's name. What the hell had happened between Liz and Will Spencer that afternoon?  
  
Max saw Alex's gaze narrow. "I guess you didn't get to the [I]really[/I] good stuff? You better hurry Liz, because I think I just really screwed up. Guess who just had another run in with Kate Spencer?"  
  
"What happened?" Liz asked, suddenly alert. "Did she hurt you?"  
  
"Will someone please tell me what you're talking about?" Max demanded, his concern for Liz and his curiousity finally overwhelming his patience.  
  
He watched Liz and Alex exchange another glance and then Liz turned to him, took one of his hands in hers. "This might be really hard for you to hear Max."  
  
But she never got a chance to say whatever it was she was trying to, because a strangled gasp from Alex made Liz whip her head around to stare at her friend. He was looking beyond them both, at a point just behind where they still sat on the lawn chair. Max turned and felt his own eyes bulge as the air seemed to come alive. It shimmered for one long moment and then, as simply as he took his next breath, the three of them became four.  
  
And, as he watched Kate Spencer's blue eyes widen in surprise as they met his, he could see that they were not the only ones who were taken aback.  
  
"Max! She's here to kill you!" Alex yelped, leaping in front of Max and Liz so abruptly, Max fell back on his elbows on the lawn chair. "And it's all my fault!"  
  
To be continued. 


	15. Chapter 15

[u]Part 15[/u]  
  
It took Liz a moment to get her bearings. Alex's sudden move had thrown her backwards and she was presently sprawled across Max, who was struggling to raise his hand, trapped as it was under Liz. It took Liz less than an instant to realize that he obviously intended to put up his shield. She rolled, trying to help him to free his arm. The whole scenario was so ridiculous, she felt an hysterical giggle ready to burst from her, managed to stifle it, ordering herself not to lose control. She had already let herself freak out once today. It was [I]not[/I] going to happen again.  
  
"Alex! Move!" Max ordered when he finally managed to shake free of the pile that he, Liz and Alex had created when Liz's best friend had jumped on them both.  
  
It was only then that Liz managed to catch a glimpse of the expression on Kate Spencer's face. She looked just as surprised to see them as they were to see her - in fact, more so. Max's green force-field sprang to life in front of her, snapping and crackling, as though he didn't quite have it under control. Liz kept her eyes glued on Kate, wondering what the other girl was going to do. She was beginning to look like a cornered animal, backed up against the wall beside Liz's window.  
  
Liz's eyes met Kate's through the shield, the other girl's terror palatable. As Liz watched, Kate closed her eyes and started to fade away, almost as abruptly as she had appeared.  
  
"She's leaving," Alex whispered. His tone was odd. Now that they were relatively safe behind Max's protective barrier, her friend sounded almost.he wasn't disappointed was he? Liz stared at him, whipped her head around again when Alex gasped.  
  
"Oh my God," Liz exclaimed as Kate solidified, her eyes opening wide in panic and then rolling up into her head. The alien girl collapsed in a heap in front of them. "Max!"  
  
Max pulled his hand back, already on the move as the shield dropped. Liz followed him instantly, her heart in her throat as he fell to his knees beside the dark-haired alien.  
  
"Max, be careful!" Liz murmured urgently. "It could be a trick."  
  
Max shook his head, his eyes narrowed. "I don't think it is Liz. I [I]felt[/I] her lose consciousness."  
  
Liz blinked. "What?"  
  
"I felt it Liz. We connected on some level when our eyes met. The same thing happened this morning," Max explained, reaching out and gently pushing Kate's long hair off her face. "She wasn't blocking me because she was surprised to see me. We connected, not very deeply, but we did."  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Alex demanded. Liz realized that he was standing beside her, shifting from one foot to the other nervously.  
  
"I think she burnt herself out," Max replied, still frowning and staring at Kate's face. Liz, watching him, could almost see him trying to remember how he knew her. "I did it earlier this afternoon too - when I had my shield up at school." He glanced over his shoulder at Liz. "I think she was trying to leave again but couldn't make the trip twice in such a short amount of time."  
  
"Max, how do you know all of this?" Liz asked, her heart beating quickly. How did Max know so much about Kate? They had never even exchanged two words!  
  
Max shook his head, obviously as perplexed as she was. "I don't know Liz. I just [I]do[/I]."  
  
Silence fell over the balcony, everyone still a little shocked by what had just happened and by the fact that one of their enemies had fallen into their hands so easily.  
  
"What are we going to do with her?" Alex finally asked. "She's just going to teleport out again when she wakes up."  
  
Max was staring down at Kate again, his brows knit. "We need to figure out a way to keep her here. We need to talk to her, need to figure out what they want."  
  
Liz felt Alex's eyes on her. "Liz, you need to tell him."  
  
Max glanced up. "Tell me what?"  
  
Liz bit her lip. "It's what I was trying to tell you before Kate showed up." She could feel her heart thundering in her chest, wondered how Max was going to react to the news that she was just as alien as he was. "Max, it's not you they want. Not right now anyway."  
  
"What?"  
  
"They want me."  
  
Max stared at her. "I don't get it."  
  
"Max." Liz met his eyes squarely and made herself say it. She hadn't even quite accepted it herself yet, but she knew that she could no longer keep him in the dark. Not when Kate and Will kept popping up everywhere, putting him in danger. "Will told me this afternoon. I didn't believe him but when you and I connected a few minutes ago, I knew he was right." She paused, knelt beside him and took his hand. "I'm one of them."  
  
Max's mouth literally fell open. "Wh.what?" He reached up and gently cupped her cheek. "Liz, did they do something to you?"  
  
"Nothing Max. I swear it. All Will and I did was talk. And he told me that I'm like them.and you. That I'm not entirely human."  
  
Max looked past her at Alex. "Alex, what did they do to her? And why did you come here? How did you know that this girl was coming?"  
  
Alex sighed, closing his eyes briefly as though to gather strength. "Max, she believes it. That's all I know. They really do think Liz is one of them."  
  
Liz felt a flash of annoyance that they were discussing her as though she wasn't even there. "Max, I need you to listen to me." He shifted his eyes back to her, looking a little shell-shocked now. "They hate you but they don't hate me. I'm going to get to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I do. I have to go back to talk to Will."  
  
Max's lips pressed together at that, his disbelief not tempering his instant stubbornness when it came to her safety. "No. There is absolutely no way Liz."  
  
Liz took a deep breath, forcing herself not to snap at him. Now was not the time for him to go all protective of her again. She had just as much invested in finding out the truth about all of this as he did! "Max."  
  
"Um, guys." Alex interrupted. "We still haven't figured out what we're going to do about Sleeping Beauty here. There is absolutely no way to get her to stay once she wakes up. She can probably give us some answers, but she's just going to take off unless we can convince her otherwise."  
  
"It doesn't matter," Liz insisted, now absolutely sure about what she had to do. "I'll go with her. It might be why she came here in the first place."  
  
"Liz! You are not going to take off with some random alien!" Max exclaimed. "Are you crazy?"  
  
"Max, you can't tell me what to do," Liz replied, scowling at him. "I absolutely know that they won't hurt me."  
  
Max ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "How? How do you know it?"  
  
"Max, it's because I'm who they say I am," Liz told him, gentling her voice. She knew that he was just scared and confused and still upset about the whole Future Max fiasco. Having all of this thrown on him in one fell swoop was a lot to ask of him. She knew that he didn't mean to order her around.  
  
She reached out, touched his cheek. "Max, when we kissed, I had a flash of the first time you ever saw me.In this life anyway." She swallowed. "You [I]knew[/I] me. Just like you knew Isabel. Just like you knew Michael and Tess. Just like you know Kate. You recognized me. I [I]felt[/I] it."  
  
"Liz, you're human!" Max argued. "We know that for a fact. For God's sake, it's how you got the proof about me. You compared our DNA!"  
  
"Max, I [I]felt[/I] it okay? I'm not making this up!"  
  
"Hello? Sorry to interrupt again here folks, but I'm seeing movement," Alex spoke up. "I think I should talk to her. I think she kind of trusts me. Maybe I can convince her to stick around while we get this all sorted out."  
  
Liz's gaze was still locked with Max's as he appeared to be frantically searching his mind for the memories she had told him she had seen. He glanced down though as Kate continued to stir, her long eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks.  
  
"Where am I?" Kate struggled to sit up, her eyes glassy. Max automatically reached over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to support her. Liz grimaced, waiting for her to realize who was helping her. She saw the instant Kate tensed up.  
  
"It's okay," Max said quietly. "I swear no one's going to hurt you."  
  
Liz watched, a pang of something she didn't understand running through her as Max and Kate's eyes met and held. It wasn't jealousy exactly, but more like she felt slightly excluded. She realized that it was a familiar feeling, as though she had felt it many times before. Max and Kate seemed to be holding some kind of private conversation, one that shut out the rest of the world. Liz realized abruptly that they were connecting, were speaking to each other on another plain.  
  
Liz was not at all surprised to see Kate's frame relax suddenly. "Zan?" She whispered, reaching up and touching Max's face with the tips of her fingers. "Why? Why did you have to change?" Her voice hitched slightly.  
  
"I'm sorry," Max replied, sounding regretful. "I don't remember what you're talking about."  
  
"No," Kate said. Liz watched in amazement as tears filled her bright blue eyes. "But you won't have to, will you? Because we're all doomed to live it again. It's only a matter of time."  
  
With that, her eyes closed, her brow furrowed as though in great concentration and she disappeared.  
  
Silence fell over the balcony again, emphasizing Max's ragged breathing. Liz wondered what on Earth Kate had shown him in their connection to put that look on his face. She had never seen him look so bleak. A shudder ran through his frame as Liz watched. Finally, Max raised his eyes to meet hers. "Did you see the way she looked at me? What kind of monster was I Liz?"  
  
Liz's entire heart went out to him. She had never heard him sound so defeated, not even when she had continued to tell him to leave her alone. Had that whole farce really only ended a few moments ago? The whole Future Max fiasco seemed very far away now, totally insignificant in the grand scheme of things. All she knew was that she couldn't allow Max to be hurt anymore, whether physically or emotionally. He had been through far too much - first with Pierce, than with her, and now from a past he didn't even remember and, yet, was still being held responsible for.  
  
Liz crawled over to him, wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, could feel him trembling. She held him tighter. "It doesn't matter. None of it matters."  
  
"It does matter," Max murmured into her hair. "Everyone I care about is in danger because of things I did, things I don't even remember doing." He pulled back slightly so that their eyes could meet. "Liz, she's not evil. I just know it - I [I]felt[/I] it. And if they aren't the bad guys." He trailed off, his face hardening with resignation. "It can only mean one thing."  
  
"No Max," Liz insisted, shaking her head. "It's not true. We'll make you remember and we'll find out for sure that it's not true."  
  
"Liz, I [I]saw[/I] things when she touched me. She gave me flashes of what I did." Max's voice cracked. "They.they were horrible things. Courtney told me about some of them, but.I mean, I didn't know how bad it was."  
  
"What do you mean?" Liz asked quietly. "What did you see?"  
  
"Liz, I killed her. Her last memory from her past life is of me ending it."  
  
******************************************  
  
Alex crept past Max and Liz, who were totally wrapped up in each other, and through Liz's window, landing heavily in his rush to leave them alone. They had apparently forgotten his presence anyway, but he still felt like an intruder, watching Max melt down and Liz attempt to hold him together.  
  
"Liz, I killed her. Her last memory from her past life is of me ending it." Max's tortured voice drifted through the window, making Alex cringe. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for Max to find out that he had apparently been a psycho-maniac in his past life. It did make him happy that he hadn't totally misjudged Kate, as he thought he had when she had appeared so suddenly on Liz's balcony. He felt a pang of guilt that he had so instantly assumed that she was there to hurt someone. He had trusted his gut up until that point. What had changed? Why had he been so willing to be believe the absolute worst about her?  
  
[I]Maybe because if you believe the worst about her, even though you already know she's not evil, than you can still pretend that you're on the verge of actually escaping the alien abyss,[/I] that damn small voice in the back of his head taunted him.  
  
[I]Haven't I already told you to shut up?[/I] Alex demanded wearily. He let himself out through Liz's door, made sure to avoid the living room of the Parker's apartment, where he could hear Liz's parents arguing about what to watch on T.V - the absurdity of their parent's obliviousness never ceased to amaze him - and trotted down the stairs into the back room of the Crashdown.  
  
Alex blinked when, as he looked over the banister on his way down, his eyes met Maria's. She was staring up at him anxiously. "Alex? Isabel said you left! What are you doing up there? What's going on?"  
  
Alex grimaced, stopping on the stairs, wondered if it was too late to make a strategic retreat. Because his gaze was moving from Maria, to Michael, to Tess, to Kyle.and, yes, to even the Sheriff, all of whom were still obviously waiting around for some sort of explanation as to what was going on. He also noticed that Isabel was nowhere in sight. "Er." He began weakly. "Max and Liz are still talking."  
  
"About what?" Tess demanded, moving forward. "What can Liz possibly have to say that's taking so long? She's lost any right to even speak to Max after what she's done."  
  
Alex narrowed his eyes at the short blonde, relieved that he could finally tell her to go jump off a bridge. "She's telling him the truth Tess," he snapped. "That she tried to save the world by pretending to sleep with Kyle because you're so selfish, you can't accept that he loves her. Because that's the kind of person Liz is. She puts other people before herself. Unlike you. All you've done since you've arrived in this town is mess with people's minds and, if Liz didn't do what she did, you would have left town and that would've screwed us all over big-time. Not that any of us would even miss you. At all."  
  
The collective round of gasps made Alex close his eyes. [I]Shut up Whitman! Just shut up![/I] He couldn't help the small sense of satisfaction he felt at the sight of Tess's mouth hanging open in shock though. Of course, if she left town now, it would be all his fault. But he couldn't seem to make himself care. It didn't mean he didn't feel a pang of relief when everyone turned to stare at Kyle, who looked supremely uncomfortable.  
  
"Hey, it wasn't [I]my[/I] idea!" Kyle exclaimed testily. He grimaced when his gaze met his father's. "It's a long story Dad. Trust me."  
  
"I'm going up there," Michael said suddenly. "This secret stuff has gone on long enough. We're at war here. We don't have time for all this relationship crap." Alex looked at Maria, whose face had whitened at Michael's words. Alex felt an instant flash of anger at Michael, who was starting up the stairs. "Get out of my way Whitman."  
  
Alex folded his arms, stared Michael down. "No. They need to be alone. It's why I left again."  
  
"Why did you come back anyway?" Michael demanded. "And what the hell did you say to Isabel? She left a few minutes ago - looked like she'd been punched in the stomach."  
  
"If she didn't tell you, then it's none of your business," Alex flared. He wondered where all this testosterone was coming from. First he punched Michael last week on Maria's behalf, and now he was ready to do it again, just because he felt like it. Was he going to turn into some sort of raging meat-head now that he'd started down this road? "And why did you let her leave anyway? You have enemies out there you know!"  
  
"Funny," Michael snapped. "I [I]don't[/I] know that for sure, do I? Because no one [I]ever tells me what's going on![/I]" This last came out as a roar, making Alex jump in spite of his new spine.  
  
"Well, don't expect me to start," Alex replied, forcing his voice to be icily polite. "It's not my job. I just seem to be the unlucky bystander to most of it."  
  
Michael's nostrils flared. "Get the hell out of my way Whitman."  
  
"No." Alex prepared himself for the blow he was sure was about to land as Michael's fists clenched at his sides.  
  
"Okay, enough! Both of you." This came from the Sheriff. "I've tried to be patient here, but it's time to tell the truth Mr. Whitman. When I picked you up earlier, you told me you'd fill me in. It seems to me that there is something big going down and I need to know what it is. If you won't tell me, than I want you to go up there and get Max and tell him that I'm through waiting. I am the grown-up here and this is [I]my[/I] town. I've had just about enough of this."  
  
"I don't blame you Sheriff." Liz's voice from above him made Alex look over his shoulder. She was coming down the stairs, Max behind her, his face expressionless. Alex noticed immediately that they were holding hands. He glanced down at Tess, who had apparently noticed as well. She looked as though she had swallowed something sour. "I don't blame any of you for being angry."  
  
Alex stumbled down the stairs after Michael as Liz gently pushed his back to make him move out of her way. "Thanks Alex, but Max'll take it from here," she whispered to him as she passed. "I need you to stay here with me."  
  
Alex blinked as Max stonily told everyone that they would meet out at the quarry in half an hour. He didn't appear upset any longer. But, then, if Alex was not mistaken, Max was very good at shutting down his emotions when they were inconvenient. The only person who ever made him face them was Liz and, for the moment, she seemed almost relieved that he was so calm.  
  
Everyone else seemed to recognize that something momentous had taken place between Max and Liz upstairs and that neither of them was in the mood to argue, because they all filed out, not a single peep of protest coming from any of them. Only Maria glanced back once, her expression troubled.  
  
"Where's Isabel?" Max asked Alex as the door swung shut behind the Sheriff.  
  
Alex wished more than ever that he hadn't told Isabel to buzz off earlier. She had run off because he had hurt her feelings and now she was potentially in danger. "I think she went home," he offered weakly.  
  
"Okay, I'll pick her up," Max sighed. The first sign that he was still upset appeared on his face as he looked down at Liz, his brow furrowed. "I don't like this Liz. Not at all."  
  
She hugged him. "It'll be all right. They won't hurt me. I know it Max. And after I deal with this, there won't be anything standing between us anymore. We can finally be together." Liz pulled back, as Alex frowned, wondering how these two had gone from meltdown Max and Liz only a few minutes ago, to calm and purposeful Max and Liz. He could sense the underlying note of hysteria that they were both trying to control. He didn't like it. Not one bit. When Liz pretended to be "calm and purposeful," she did dumb things like pretending to sleep with Kyle. When Max became "calm and purposeful," bad things happened to him - like White Rooms and stupid destiny messages.  
  
Liz reached up and brushed Max's hair off his forehead. "I'm going to find out the truth Max. I [I]know[/I] that you weren't like that. I know you. This is the only way to do it."  
  
Max lowered his head, sighing heavily, until his forehead touched Liz's. "I love you. Whatever they tell you, you have to remember that. Please."  
  
Liz kissed him gently. "Max, it's the only thing I do remember from before. You've always loved me and I've always loved you. Now we just need to find out why no one else knows it."  
  
Alex stared at them, not understanding any of it. He wondered if they had forgotten he was standing right beside them again as they lost themselves in a series of lengthy kisses that made him blush. He cleared his throat. "Er, guys?"  
  
Max and Liz broke apart slowly. "Sorry Alex," Liz said quietly. She kissed Max again, then pulled away, pushing him towards the door. "Go. I'll call you when I get home."  
  
Max took a deep breath. "Okay. Be careful Liz. Please." With that, he turned on his heel and disappeared through the swinging door into the restaurant, so quickly, Alex realized that it was the only way he could make himself do it.  
  
"Okay, Liz, what the hell is going on?" Alex demanded as soon as the door closed. His best friend was staring at it, a worried expression on her face.  
  
"I hope he's going to be okay," Liz murmured. "He knows intellectually that whatever he did before isn't his fault, but his heart.He cares so much about hurting people Alex. He's going to feel guilty about it anyway."  
  
She took a deep breath and turned to look at him. "I made him promise to tell Isabel everything. Maybe she can help him until I can again."  
  
Alex stared at her. "I don't get it Liz. Why can't [I]you[/I] help him?"  
  
Liz's expression hardened. "Because, as of right now, Max is my enemy. At least in public." She smiled grimly. "There's only one way to get to the bottom of this Alex. You and I are going to join the other side."  
  
To be continued. 


	16. Chapter 16

[u]Part 16[/u]  
  
"Liz, are you sure this is a good idea?"  
  
Liz sighed, leaned back wearily so that it was cradled against the head- rest of the passenger seat. They had walked over to his house to pick it up his parents' car after the others had left for the quarry, Liz not wanting to have to explain to her mom and dad where she was going with their vehicle. Alex's parents were not nearly as on top of him when it came to staying out late on school nights. It didn't hurt that he had three older brothers. The Whitmans had just been too tired by the time Alex came along to give him many rules at all. While the Parkers were by no means unreasonably strict, they did always want to know where Liz was going when she took the car and Liz was tired of lying. Since she couldn't tell her parents that she was going to a run-down motel in the middle of the desert, she preferred to just tell them she was going out with Alex, something they always approved of. She had been lying for weeks now. It was exhausting. If she could avoid it from now on, she was going to try.  
  
Of course, she was about to turn her entire life into a lie again by pretending that she was willing to turn on Max. But she would just ignore that fact for the moment. She was tired enough. She didn't have the energy to even contemplate it.  
  
"I'm not sure of anything any more," Liz admitted, staring out the window at the setting sun, which was throwing its shadow over the desert scrub they were passing through. "All I know is that this is all totally screwed up and I have to protect Max. These people want him dead Alex - for something he didn't even do!"  
  
"But maybe he did do it Liz," Alex said tentatively. "I don't know Kate very well, but she doesn't strike me as evil. She's never set out to deliberately hurt anyone that I've seen. Maybe Max [I]was[/I] who they say he was."  
  
Liz turned her head, scowled at him. "He wasn't. I [I]know[/I] it."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Because I [I]know[/I] Max," Liz replied firmly. "I just do. Whatever Kate thinks he did, she's [I]wrong[/I]."  
  
There was a long silence and then Alex asked quietly, "Liz, you don't really believe what they've told you about yourself, do you?"  
  
Liz didn't reply for a moment, wondering how she could explain to someone who had never really experienced an alien connection that there were some things that just could not be denied. Not once you [I]knew[/I]. "I do," she told him. "If it had just come down to Will's word, I think I could have ignored the whole thing, but Max.deep inside, he knows the truth about me too."  
  
"But what about what Max said? What about the fact that you have human DNA?" Alex demanded. "I just don't get that Liz."  
  
"I don't either," Liz admitted. "It's just something else we're going to have to try and figure out."  
  
"And you're positive that Will is going to just accept you? That just because you want him to leave Max alone, he will?"  
  
Liz thought about Will, thought about the way he looked at her. "Yes," she whispered.  
  
"Oooo-kay." When Liz looked at Alex again, he was shaking his head. "I've learned enough by now to not bother to question the alien chaos. You seem to know what you're talking about Liz. I just hope you're right."  
  
Liz reached out, gently laid her hand on top of Alex's, which was clutching the gear shift. "Thank you for coming with me. I.I really didn't want to do this alone."  
  
Alex looked at her out of the corner of his eye, quirked a sad grin in her direction. "Can't abandon my best girl now, can I?"  
  
"Still, thank you Alex." Liz really meant it. When she had told Max that she was not going to take no for an answer, that she fully intended to infiltrate into Will and Kate's lives to find out what was going on with them, the only way she had finally managed to convince him to allow it was by telling him that she would take Alex with her. Max trusted Alex to keep her safe and, if he couldn't, to call in reinforcements. And, in the end, Max knew that he had to let her go, as much as he didn't want to. Because until they knew the truth about the new aliens in town and what they wanted, there was no way to even figure out how to deal with them. But by pretending that he was agreeing because Alex was going, Max could gracefully give in without making her any less aware of how worried about her he was going to be.  
  
"You don't trust me?" Liz had demanded, scowling at him, but not really angry.  
  
Max had just looked at her seriously. "Liz, you don't think about your own safety. You don't think about yourself. If there's anything that this past week has shown, it's that you don't put yourself first. Alex will do that." He paused and then had added darkly. "And it's not that I don't trust [I]you.[/I]"  
  
Deep down, Liz knew that Max was right. When it came to protecting him and her friends, she became single-minded. It would be handy to have someone watching her back. Plus, while she was a lot more sure than Max that Will and Kate would never hurt her, she didn't entirely trust them either. It was reassuring that she would have someone with her that she [I]could[/I] completely depend on.  
  
Not to mention, it would be a lot less lonely.  
  
"So, speaking of best girls," Liz said, trying to lighten the mood in the car, "What's going on with you and Kate?"  
  
"What?" Alex demanded, sounding really surprised. "What are you talking about? Nothing!"  
  
Liz raised an eyebrow. "Right. Alex, I saw the way you looked at her earlier."  
  
Alex wrinkled his brow. "How did I look at her?"  
  
"Like you thought she was kind of intriguing."  
  
"Liz, I so don't need [I]another[/I] alien princess to obsess over. Particularly one who's gunning for our friends. You are imagining things."  
  
"Hmmmm," was all Liz said, grinning when Alex snorted. "I know you Alex and I know when you're obsessing and you are obsessing over this girl." She was serious when she continued though. "What about Isabel?"  
  
"Isabel doesn't love me," Alex said quietly. "I mean, I know she cares about me, but she's not in love with me. Which doesn't mean I'm interested in Kate. I mean, I have spoken to her a grand total of three times."  
  
"Aliens are [I]very[/I] attractive Alex. All Max had to do was tell me what he was and I fell for him. It doesn't take long," Liz teased.  
  
"I don't think it's just the alien part that attracts you Liz," Alex shot back. "Much to my chagrin, then [I]and[/I] now, I know that you and Maria had certified Max as a West Roswell hottie long before his Czechoslovakian heritage was common knowledge." Liz smiled, knew he was right. Alex narrowed his eyes and continued, "But, since we're on the topic of otherworldly attraction, what about you and Will? I actually can't quite believe that Max is letting you go off to be with him."  
  
Liz sobered. "Max doesn't run my life Alex. But whatever Will seems to think we were to each other before, it doesn't matter anyway. It's Max I love now."  
  
"What are you going to do if Will doesn't accept that?" Alex asked. "Tess has more than proven that just because one destined partner isn't interested, it doesn't mean the other one is just going to give up. And, as far as we know, Tess doesn't even [I]remember[/I] being with Max. Will seems to remember you, doesn't he?"  
  
Liz frowned. "He says he does."  
  
"So what if this big scheme to protect Max by letting Will get close to you blows up in your face Liz? Because what if the more time Will spends with you, the more he loves you and the more determined he is to get rid of Max once and for all?"  
  
"He wouldn't do that," Liz whispered, trying to ignore the lump that was forming in her throat.  
  
There was another long silence. Then Alex said, "Liz, what if you fall in love with [I]him[/I]?"  
  
"What?" Liz flared, shocked. "That could [I]never[/I] happen!"  
  
"Didn't Max find himself attracted to Tess?"  
  
"Well, yes, but she was mindwarping him," Liz insisted. "We know that." Alex seemed to accept this comment readily enough, didn't say anything more about it, because, in the end, he knew what Liz knew. There was absolutely no way that Liz would ever betray Max like that. She [I]loved[/I] him. She had always loved him. If there was one truth about her past life that was becoming ever more clear to her, it was that.  
  
She and Max were meant to be together. She didn't yet know how or why, but she knew it was true.  
  
[I]But what about the way you felt when you first saw Will?[/I] A small voice in the back of her mind reminded her. [I]What if Alex is right and you find yourself falling for him?[/I]  
  
What if this plan to save Max ended up hurting him even more in the end?  
  
"It won't," Liz murmured quietly to herself. "It won't happen."  
  
But she was no longer quite as focused as she should have been when Alex pulled his parents' Volvo to a stop outside the door to the motel moments later. Her heart was thundering in her chest. She was nervous she realized - nervous that she would feel the same instant attraction to Will that she had that morning when she again laid eyes on him.  
  
Now that she and Max were finally back on the same wave-length, having that happen again .She didn't know if she would be able to handle the guilt. This morning, things had been so bad between Max and Liz, she had relegated the instant connection between she and Will to her loneliness and misery. What if it was more than that?  
  
Liz bit her lip, stared at the motel, wondered suddenly if this was all a [I]really[/I] bad idea, if both Max and Alex were right that she was playing with fire here. But, deep down, she knew she wasn't. She knew her own mind and she knew her own heart. It was Max she loved. She [I]knew[/I] it.  
  
She felt her heart start to beat more calmly as she reached out to take Alex's hand for support. She [I]knew[/I] herself. No matter what she was told and what she learned tonight and over the next few days, Max Evans was her soul mate.  
  
And no one - not even Will Spencer - was going to convince her otherwise.  
  
***********************************************  
  
Kate lay staring up at the ceiling, her exhaustion so complete, she couldn't even get up to go tell Will that she was back. She didn't know how she had managed to screw up so completely, but coming face to face with Zan again like that.It had been devastating.  
  
They had connected and now she knew for sure that Max Evans did not remember [I]anything[/I] about being Zan. He could not be held responsible for what he couldn't remember, could he? Morally, she knew it was true. Before, she had been allowed to doubt all the people - Liz, Alex - who told her that Max didn't [I]know[/I] the truth. She could still pursue the granolith and blame him for the mess they were all stuck in. But now that she knew for sure that he didn't remember [I]any[/I] of it.  
  
She could not hold him responsible. None of them could. And, somehow, she was going to have to convince Will of that. Because, if they punished Max Evans, a virtual innocent, for Zan's actions, then, in the end, they were no better than Zan, were they?  
  
Kate managed to turn her head at the sound of a light knock on the door. "Come in," she called out weakly, lifting her arm and sending a jolt of energy towards the lock and making the door swing open. She really hoped that it was Jack and not Will. She didn't know how she was going to tell Will that Max Evans was now beyond their reach. He was going to be furious - especially now that the whole thing had become so personal to him because Rowena was involved.  
  
But Will was no more a murderer than she was. He would have to accept it. She would [I]make[/I] him accept it.  
  
Her prayers were answered when her cousin poked his golden head through the crack she had created. "Katie, what're you doing in here?" Jack asked, entering quickly and shutting the door behind him. "Will said that you'd gone out."  
  
Kate frowned slightly. "Then why are you knocking?"  
  
"Hey, I wasn't in the mood to walk in on you if you [I]were[/I] here. These close quarters are getting to be a bit much," he admitted, flopping down in a chair near the TV. He picked up the remote. "Will's watching the news. It's boring. I came in here to watch cartoons."  
  
Kate rolled her eyes. "Jack, are you [I]ever[/I] going to grow up?" She demanded, sitting up carefully.  
  
He grinned at her. "Why? What's the point?"  
  
And Will wondered why she didn't think Jack was up to all the responsibility he gave him, Kate thought, shaking her head. "Where have you been all day?"  
  
"Around," Jack replied non-committally, flicking on the TV with his powers and then using the remote to switch the channels. "I met that friend of Rowena's - Alex Whitman." He looked at Kate, his expression darkening. "Oh, and I ran into Rath. Moron." He focused his attention back on the television, not even noticing that Kate's mouth had fallen open.  
  
She lifted her hand, waved it at the TV, shutting it off.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Excuse me, but you can't just tell me that you ran into Rath and then watch the Transformers," Kate snapped. "Did you tell Will this? You were supposed to be undercover."  
  
"He didn't know it was me." Jack waved his hand in the air dismissively. "They're all preoccupied by something else. Zan, Vilandra and Ava all came in with one of the humans. They totally forgot about me." He grinned at her. "And what Will doesn't know won't hurt him."  
  
"Jack!" Kate flared, exasperated. "You were in the same room as [I]all[/I] of them? Are you crazy?"  
  
Jack raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't the one who teleported right into Zan's arms an hour ago," he replied slyly.  
  
Kate swallowed, narrowed her eyes. "How did you know that?"  
  
"Like I said, I've been around today." His blue eyes met hers, suddenly serious. "And like I said Katie, what Will doesn't know won't hurt him."  
  
"Jack, I'm going to tell him."  
  
"Right."  
  
"I [I]am[/I]!"  
  
"Why?" Jack demanded. "What's the point?"  
  
Kate bit her lip. "Jack, I connected with Zan." She swallowed. "He doesn't remember anything. I'm guessing that none of them do. We can't hurt them to get the granolith. And if they won't tell us, then we're screwed."  
  
Jack leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "And that's why you won't [I]tell[/I] Will that Katie."  
  
"What?" Kate demanded, confused. "I won't tell him what?"  
  
"That Zan doesn't remember," Jack replied. "We need the granolith. We have no choice Kate. We have to do whatever it takes to get it."  
  
"But Jack! Max Evans is innocent! We can't just use an innocent person!"  
  
"Was he innocent when he destroyed the Harvest?" Jack demanded. "Kate, you didn't [I]feel[/I] the destruction. Not like I did. Those people are [I]dying[/I]. And that is Max Evans's fault, whether he remembers being Zan or not."  
  
"That wasn't Max's fault. He didn't destroy the Harvest. I did."  
  
Kate and Jack both turned their heads. Kate stared at the blonde girl standing in the doorway, so completely flabbergasted to see that they were no longer alone, that she momentarily just sat looking at her. "Who are you?" She demanded finally.  
  
Jack leaned back in his chair, lifted his feet up and set them on the bed next to her. Kate wrinkled her nose, slapped them aside so that they thumped to the floor. He was no better than an annoying younger brother on occasion. She forced herself to push aside her irritation and focus on what he was saying. "Oh, did I forget to mention Courtney? She's someone I picked up in my travels today. She was hanging out in Rath's apartment. Will's just been chatting her up." He winked at Courtney, who glared at him. "Lovely for a traitor, isn't she?"  
  
Kate stared at Jack, not understanding her cousin's strange behavior since he had entered her room. Jack was usually the most compassionate of people, but he was acting completely out of character. What was [I]wrong[/I] with him?  
  
She jumped to her feet as Courtney stumbled into the room. Kate helped the other girl to the bed. She looked like she was about to collapse. "Are you okay?" Seeing a Skin in such an advanced stage of decomposition.It only reinforced to her how absolutely vital it was that they get their hands on the granolith. "Who are you?" She repeated quietly after she had settled Courtney against the pillows.  
  
"She's one of those stupid Rath worshippers," Jack replied for her. "She's madly in love with him. It's really kind of cute." He scowled at her this time. "Except for the traitor part."  
  
"I'm not in love with him," Courtney said quickly, folding her arms across her chest and raising her chin. Kate could tell she was lying by the spasm that crossed her face at the taunt though.  
  
"But you know him?" Kate asked. "Well?"  
  
"Well enough to know that I'll never sell him out to you freaks. I wouldn't tell Khivar anything and I'm certainly not going to tell you two," Courtney snapped, turning her head and looking pointedly at the wall, clearly unwilling to say anything else.  
  
Kate glanced at Jack, who was narrowing his eyes in annoyance. Kate felt her eyes widen when she actually saw him make a move, like he was going to physically shake Courtney to get her to talk. She reached out and pinched her cousin. "OW! What was that for?" He demanded, rubbing his leg and glaring at her.  
  
"It's for being such a jerk. This is one of our people Jack. If she's supporting Rath, it must be for a reason." Kate looked back at Courtney, who was now staring at her suspiciously. "We know Rath was a good man," she continued. "Loyal to the end. It wasn't his fault Zan betrayed everyone - including him."  
  
Courtney rolled her eyes. "You're all the same aren't you? Blaming Zan for your own incompetence." She gestured at the door. "He just tried to do it too." Kate knew she meant Will. "I mean, he was no King Arthur, but he certainly wasn't the monster you all make him out to be." She paused, grinned pertly. "Besides, even King Arthur had his weak moments."  
  
"What is [I]that[/I] supposed to mean?" Jack demanded. Kate looked at him again, staring him down warningly. She had no idea what had gotten stuck in [I]his[/I] craw, but if he couldn't stop speaking out of turn, she was going to have to tell Will. She was of superior rank here and she was running this interrogation.  
  
Courtney snorted. "I expect you'll all find out soon enough. You're all so sure history is going to repeat itself. And now that Khivar has his Rowena back, I guess we'll see, won't we?"  
  
Kate realized that this was the second time that Courtney had called Will Khivar. At least, that's who she assumed the Skin was referring to. "How do you know he's Khivar?" She asked quickly. No one was supposed to know. As far as everyone knew, Khivar was still sitting on Zan's throne.  
  
She blinked, realized what she had just thought. She had called it [I]Zan's[/I] throne! It was not Zan's any longer. He had lost it through treachery and violence. What was she thinking? Kate felt a flash of fear run through her. She had been right. That connection with Max Evans had been far more damaging than she had even guessed.  
  
It was [I]Khivar's[/I] throne - rightfully, through conquest. Zan was no longer worthy to sit upon it.  
  
"He has Rowena back?" Jack asked. It took Kate a moment to realize that while she had gotten stuck on the Khivar part of Courtney's last statement, Jack had gone right to the important stuff. It annoyed her even more. She couldn't let distractions interfere. She had to keep her head on straight, particularly since Jack seemed to be going through some sort of weird teen rebellion phase, while Will was almost useless since he had started obsessing over Ro. "What does [I]that[/I] mean?" Jack looked at Kate, clearly expecting her to glare at him again. "C'mon Katie. You want to know too!"  
  
She didn't dignify that with a response. Because she did dammit "Well?"  
  
"That's why I'm in here," Courtney said, looking bored now. "Liz Parker just showed up with her trusty lap dog. They're in with Khivar. He kicked me out."  
  
Liz Parker. [I]Here?[/I] Kate jumped to her feet in panic. This was so [I]not[/I] good. Will wasn't ready to face her. She hadn't even told him what she had seen through the connection with Zan. He didn't know that Max Evans was not the evil creature Zan had been.  
  
He didn't know that Liz Parker was truly in love with him. That Max had not bewitched her, that he had not coerced her, that Max Evans had not even approached her until he had been forced by circumstance to reveal himself to her in order to save her life. But Kate [I]did[/I] know. She knew it all - had [I]seen[/I] it all. And it was going to devastate her brother!  
  
"Jack, watch her!" She exclaimed, throwing the door open and slamming straight into a firm body. Kate blinked, stared up into Alex Whitman's amused brown eyes.  
  
Oh. Right. The trusty lap dog. She should have known.  
  
"Hi!" Alex said. "Will told me to come join the party. Hope no one minds." He looked over Kate's shoulder, only seemed mildly surprised to see Courtney, but his eyes widened in shock at the sight of Jack lounging in the chair. Kate watched his face shut down but he wasn't able to completely hide his reaction, especially since he couldn't help muttering, "I should have known. Four and four."  
  
Alex seemed to regain his composure quickly though because he sauntered into the room, narrowed his eyes at Jack. "I hope you managed to sharpen your pencil."  
  
Jack had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. "Didn't know who you were man. Truly. But can't say that I was sorry to find out. I'm glad Ro has had someone like you watching her back all these years."  
  
Alex merely snorted, although he did seem slightly appeased. He looked back at Kate, who was still hovering in the doorway, unsure what to do. "They're going to be a while Kate. You might as well come back in and make yourself comfortable."  
  
"But." Kate stared helplessly at the door across the hallway, her drive to go and protect her brother so fierce, it [I]had[/I] to be the right instinct.  
  
"Trust me," Alex shrugged. "You don't want to be interfering in there. I wanted to stay but it was all I could do to get Liz to let me come this far."  
  
"Why?" Kate asked, finally turning and shutting the door behind her. "Is something wrong?"  
  
Alex sighed, leaned up against the wall. "Other than the fact that Lizzie's entire world has been turned on its head in a single day? Nah."  
  
Kate narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why are you here?"  
  
"To find out the truth," Alex admitted. "Well, Liz is. I'm here for her."  
  
Kate felt a flash of disappointment. It was enough to make her blink. Why the hell should [I]that[/I] disappoint her? She was clearly losing her mind!  
  
"But.but." Kate was at a loss. After what she had seen after teleporting onto Liz's balcony, she had been convinced that Rowena was staying loyal to Zan. Why would she be here if that was the case? If she was on the other side, neither she nor Zan would ever give Will so much leverage over the former king by playing her right into Will's hands. It was what had destroyed Ro last time after all - playing intermediary.  
  
Alex looked her right in the eyes and said quietly, "Let's just say that Liz's - and my - loyalties are yet to be decided."  
  
With that simple statement, Kate knew that the entire game had changed. Again. But it was the way her heart flip-flopped when he quirked a grin at her that she knew that the rules might be much more than she had ever bargained for.  
  
To be continued. 


	17. Chapter 17

[u]Part 17[/u]  
  
Liz wasn't sure if letting Alex leave had been the best idea. But when Will had suggested it, his blue eyes never leaving her face, his expression displaying no surprise that she had returned so quickly, she finally nodded in her best friend's direction. Alex had been scowling as he walked out, but he had agreed earlier that they would play this Liz's way. He knew that whatever she had to do, it was for a reason. And if being alone with Will meant that he would trust her more quickly, then alone with him she would be.  
  
But, now, as she sat carefully on the edge of the chair near the television in the crummy motel room where her life had already changed once today, she couldn't stop twisting her hands in her lap. She wondered why she was so scared. Will had never done anything to suggest that he would ever hurt her.  
  
[I]He would hurt Max though. He already tried once today,[/I] a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her. [I]And that's really what you're most concerned about. It's why you're here. To protect him. You need to make that clear - right off the bat.[/I]  
  
Liz realized that she had lowered her gaze to the floor as she tried to sort out exactly how to approach this. Taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes and met Will's piercing gaze head-on, willing herself not to react. She let out a small sigh when her heart continued to beat normally.  
  
[I]Thank you God.[/I]  
  
Whatever it was he had ignited in her earlier that day seemed to have faded now that the balance between she and Max had been restored. She could look at Will without feeling a rush of blood to her head and without feeling a slight fluttering in her stomach. The relief was so great, she closed her eyes momentarily, just to assure herself that her reaction was genuine.  
  
Finally, she accepted that it was true. Will Spencer could have been Alex for all the attraction she felt towards him at the moment. And, yet, the slight sense of recognition that she had felt in his presence from the first time she had seen him was still present. There was no question that she had been connected to this man at some point before. She [I]knew[/I] him and she knew that he was not lying when he said that he believed that she had been in love with him. [I]Believed[/I] was the operative word though. Because, although she did think that Will truly thought that Rowena had been in love with him, she knew inherently that it was not true. There had to have been something between Zan and Rowena. There was no other way to explain the fact that she and Max felt so completely that they belonged together.  
  
Where had the mistake been made? Had Will been blind to his wife's true feelings in their past lives or had the change taken place sometime more recently? Had the fact that she and Max had found each other first changed everything? Had they mistaken each other for their respective spouses - Will and Tess - and was that why they felt such a keen sense of being made for each other?  
  
Liz straightened her spine and raised her chin, meeting Will's eyes firmly. She was here for information and she was going to get it. She was not leaving this motel room tonight until she knew everything Will knew - until she had all the information there was to have so that she could meld it with what she knew in her heart to be true.  
  
She decided for the moment to ignore the pang of guilt about the fact that, more than likely, Will was going to end up hurt. She couldn't think about him right now. Max was all that mattered.  
  
"You're probably wondering why I came back," Liz began tentatively.  
  
"No."  
  
She blinked, bit her lip. He sounded so sure that he knew, so sure that she recognized that they were meant to be together. She could almost read his thoughts. How could he have been so wrong about Rowena?  
  
"I believe you," Liz continued, as though he hadn't spoken. "I.I talked to Max and well." She swallowed. "I know it's true. I'm one of you."  
  
Will's eyes darkened at the mention of Max's name. "So he [I]does[/I] remember." He sounded disgusted, as though he couldn't quite believe that he had actually contemplated the fact that Max might not know exactly what he was doing.  
  
"No!" Liz exclaimed quickly, cursing the error. How had she made a mistake so quickly? "You don't understand. We connected. I saw myself through his eyes and I just knew suddenly that the reason he fell in love with me was because he recognized me. He was drawn to me because we're the same."  
  
"So he says."  
  
Liz narrowed her eyes. "Weren't you the one who told me that when I connect with people, that I see them truly? That it's my gift?"  
  
Will did not deny it, simply raised an eyebrow. "And?"  
  
"I [I]know[/I] Max. Whoever he was before, he's not that way now. You can ask your sister if you don't believe me. I think she finally knows it too."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"Didn't Kate tell you?" Liz asked, momentarily confused. She wondered briefly why Kate would have kept the fact that she had connected with Max a secret from Will.  
  
"Tell me what?" Will demanded, interrupting her thoughts. "I didn't even know she was back."  
  
"Well, she paid us a little visit earlier," Liz replied. "I think it was an accident. I was with Max and Alex and she just popped in. Anyway, she and Max had." Liz was forced to sigh slightly, decided that she had every right to be a little jealous. She had always felt that the connection between she and Max was unique, but the fact that he had shared one with Kate.well, apparently not. "I guess you'd say they had a moment," she finished wryly.  
  
"What?" Will was on his feet, heading for the door. "Why wouldn't she tell me this?"  
  
Liz grabbed him by the hand as he passed her. "I'm sure she had her reasons. You can talk to her later. I need to get some things straight with you - now."  
  
It wasn't until she was in the middle of the flash that Liz even realized what she had done. And by then it was far too late because at that point all she could hear was the screaming.  
  
[I]Rowena! Rowena, save me! Please! I'm not Rowena! You don' t want to do this! Ro! Roweeeennaaa![/I]  
  
"RO!"  
  
She snapped out of it after what felt like hours, Will's voice finally breaking through the shrieking voice that had invaded her head. Liz's heart was racing and she could feel beads of perspiration on her forehead. She took deep gasping breaths and stared into Will's eyes. She realized that he was on his knees in front of her, his hands on her shoulders because he had obviously just finished shaking her.  
  
He seemed to recognize the instant that she was aware again because his expression was momentarily relieved before it hardened with concern. "What happened? What did you see?" He touched her face gently, forcing her to look at him.  
  
Liz backed up against the chair, trying to escape his touch. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" She could not control herself. She saw each word stab into him like a dagger as his hands fell away from her. He rocked back on his heels, continued to stare at her. But touching him had done that. Touching him and made her feel like her entire soul was being ripped from her body.  
  
And, from the look of horror on his face, he apparently knew it.  
  
"I'm sorry," Liz finally managed to say, realized that it was more of a sob than anything. "I thought I could do this."  
  
"It's okay," Will replied, standing up and turning away. She saw a shudder run through his lean frame, wondered briefly if he had seen what she had.  
  
But what exactly [I]had[/I] she seen? Already it was fading back into the shadows of her mind, evading the grasp of her memory.  
  
The only thing that remained was a pair of piercing blue eyes.  
  
Will turned back. "Why are you here?" He asked roughly, his expression shuttered for the first time that she had ever seen. If she needed confirmation that he [I]had[/I] seen something from her, then there it was, written all over his face. She felt horrible that she could not meet his eyes. She didn't need to anymore. They were branded on her brain after that flash.  
  
"I.I need to know what happened to me. To us. To everyone," Liz said finally, keeping her voice low so that it didn't crack.  
  
"You want to know what happened to [I]him[/I]. You're doing this for him," Will's tone was accusing, but Liz thought she heard an undertone of resignation there as well. It scared her more than any anger could have.  
  
"No." Liz could hear the lie in her voice, wondered if he did as well. He had collapsed on the bed, his head clutched between his fists, as though he was trying to push something out of his mind. Liz felt another flash of fear as she pondered what he might have seen from her. Had he seen how every beat of her heart was for Max, how every breath she took was because he loved her?  
  
Liz sat beside him, gently reached out and took his hand in hers. Will looked at her, his expression now blank. She forced herself to meet those suddenly disturbing blue eyes. "I'm here because we were all sent to this planet for a reason and I can't believe that it's because we're supposed to be enemies. Any of us. Yes, I'm here because of him. But I'm here for me too and I'm here for you and for Isabel and for Michael and for everyone. I'm here for answers."  
  
"What if the answers you find aren't the ones you want Rowena?" Will asked in a monotone. "Because the ones I'm getting sure aren't the ones I was looking for."  
  
"I'm willing to take that chance," Liz replied firmly. She squeezed his hand. "I trust you Will. I." She swallowed. "I don't know what you saw in that flash, but I can tell that it was about Max."  
  
He didn't answer, which only confirmed it. She continued in a rush. "I'm sorry. I don't remember what we meant to each other before. I want to try, but I need you to accept that it's unlikely that my feelings for Max are going to change. That was then. This is now."  
  
"Why?" He demanded. "Why do you want to know if you don't think it's going to change anything?"  
  
"Because I think I owe you that much," Liz told him. "And I'm beginning to think that you're just as lost as I am."  
  
"What?" He did not sound impressed by this assessment.  
  
"Will, I don't think you were in love with [I]me[/I] at all," Liz told him. Until the words left her mouth, she hadn't even realized that it was true. But she knew somehow that she was right. "I think that there was much more going on in our past lives than even you know about."  
  
"I do remember Liz."  
  
Liz narrowed her eyes. "I think you remember what [I]they[/I] want you to. And I think it's the same with Max and the others. But I'm beginning to wonder if any of it is real."  
  
"Who are they?" Will asked wearily. "Liz, we're the ones in charge. I'm the one who had myself cloned and sent here. I remember exactly what I intended myself to remember."  
  
Liz blinked, then grinned. "Well, that was confusing."  
  
Will stared at her, then smirked slightly as well. "This really is a mess, isn't it?" The atmosphere in the room lightened slightly.  
  
"I know this is hard. It's hard on everyone," Liz told him seriously. "But I'm here as a go-between." She paused, continued quickly. "I'm going to make a confession here Will. I was going to pretend that I remembered you."  
  
"You were?" His gaze darkened again. "Why?"  
  
"You were right that I came here to protect Max. I was going to pretend to side with you if you promised to leave him alone."  
  
"What changed your mind?" He asked. He didn't sound hurt, merely curious.  
  
Liz thought about it for a moment. "I told you. I trust you. I think that if I ask you to leave him alone, you will. Because I think, deep down, you know that you need him as much as he needs you."  
  
"I'm glad you trust me, but I can't trust [I]him[/I] Liz. It's impossible."  
  
The fact that he called her Liz.It raised her hopes more than anything that he had said before. He was beginning to accept things the way they were. She was no longer his Rowena. She was Liz Parker, who was in love with Max Evans, and that's who she intended to remain.  
  
But it didn't mean that she wasn't still curious about exactly who Rowena of Valonia had been. She was frightened to find out, but she knew that unless she did, she could potentially be haunted by her forever. Although it had faded, she could not forget that flash, could not forget the screaming voice of someone she had been unable to save in her past life. Because she was sure that's what it had been. But [I]who?[/I] Who had she failed so completely?  
  
She realized that now was not the time to think about it. She needed Will to agree to this, needed he and Max working together if any of them were ever going to have any hope of straightening this out.  
  
"You could try," she told him quietly.  
  
Their eyes met for a long, charged moment. Finally, he grinned and said, "I never could say no to you Rowena."  
  
"Well, that's handy to know," she replied teasingly, squeezing his hand again. "In that case, I'm going to demand that you tell me everything you can about who I was."  
  
There was a long silence as he measured her with his eyes. "I think that you're right Liz. I don't think this is just about the two of us anymore."  
  
Her heart started to beat more quickly. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I'll tell you together. Because, really, I think that's the way you want it." He straightened his spine and for a moment Liz could see that this had indeed been a king once upon a time. He was disappointed with how things were turning out for himself, but he would not let it interfere with what he knew to be right. And he was beginning to see that working with Max instead of against him [I]was[/I] right. "It's time for me to meet Zan of Antar."  
  
Liz stared at him, almost couldn't believe that everything she had hoped for had happened so quickly - and simply because she had been honest. Would wonders never cease?  
  
And, yet, that small voice in the back of her mind was urging caution. [I]Be careful Liz. You could be walking Max right into a trap.[/I]  
  
But she could not believe that of Will. He would not betray her that way. To him, she was still his wife, even if they were no longer meant to be together. He would not lie to her. Somehow she just knew it.  
  
The little voice was not completely wrong though. "I do have one condition."  
  
Liz frowned. "What?"  
  
He looked away, then took a deep breath and stood, going to the bedside table and pulling open a drawer. Liz watched him curiously as Will pulled out a long piece of fabric. It was the most delicate piece of material Liz had ever seen, gossamer thin and so pale that it seemed almost colourless.  
  
She had reached out her hand for it before she even knew what she was doing. She knew it had belonged to her. Will handed it over without comment.  
  
"I want you to have it," he said quietly. "It's all I have left of Rowena."  
  
"I don't understand." Liz wound the fabric around her hand, marveling at the softness, at the fact that this had come from another planet. "How is this a condition?"  
  
"I'd like you to wear it when I meet him."  
  
Liz looked up, frowned again. "Why?"  
  
"I want a piece of you to still belong to me."  
  
She felt a shiver descend her spine, couldn't tell if it was one of attraction or of fear. But her lips were opening and she was saying, "I will," before she could stop herself. "What is it?" She asked, biting her lip, knowing that it was too late to take it back. He had bent so much already. She could not deny him this much.  
  
"It's the sash that was used to bind us at our wedding," Will replied, his voice expressionless, which only reinforced to Liz how much the simple piece of cloth meant to him. "Rowena always wore it on her wrist after that."  
  
Liz stared down at it, realized that she had wound it around her own wrist without even realizing what she was doing. Another tremor ran through her body. She considered throwing it back at him, almost started to do it, when something caught her eye.  
  
It was a stain. She knew almost instantly what it was too.  
  
Blood. [I]Her[/I] blood. From before.  
  
She felt all the colour drain from her face as she looked up at Will, who was watching her intently, his eyes gleaming strangely.  
  
And, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she had been tricked. 


	18. Chapter 18

[u]Part 18[/u]  
  
"Where's Isabel?" Michael demanded as Max joined the group. They were all huddled on the cliffs over the reservoir, looking very small and vulnerable as he moved toward them. A chill descended his spine as he reflected on how completely useless he felt when it came to leading any of them. Maria was huddled into her usual frilly jacket, obviously cold and feeling lonely because she was being left out of the new bond between Alex and Liz. Tess stood as far away from Maria as possible, looking slightly uncomfortable as usual, although her face relaxed at the sight of him, which irritated him and then made him feel guilty. She was standing close to Kyle, who looked even more out of place and, on top of that, annoyed. The Sheriff did not look any happier to be there, still slightly upset that he had been kept out of the loop for so long.  
  
The only person who seemed at all pleased with this meeting was Michael, whose arms were crossed over his chest in a business-like manner. The change that had come over his best friend since they had found out about their destiny never failed to amaze Max when he reflected on it. Michael was perfectly content to accept the role that had been shaped for him by others in a galaxy far, far away. Not for the first time, as his eyes lit again on Tess, Max wondered why he had never felt the same way.  
  
But, now that he knew something about who he had been in his past life, Max realized that perhaps it wasn't quite so surprising.  
  
He didn't want to be king. It was as plain and simple as that, but everyone here expected him to be anyway. They were all depending on him. Max felt a pang as he realized how absolutely lucky he was to have all these people and how ill prepared he felt to lead them, how unlikely it was that he would be able to protect them when the time came.  
  
And, now, with the new knowledge that he likely didn't [I]deserve[/I] to lead them. it all seemed ten times more daunting.  
  
He was trying not to let the horrible scene he had seen in Kate's subconscious replay itself in his own mind. He was trying to believe Liz - that whatever he had done in his past life, he was not the kind of person who would kill his own friends in cold blood (because he knew now that it was what Kate had been to him before). It had not been something he had ever expected to be forced to acknowledge. He had been a monster in his past life. The image of his own hands closing around Kate's neck from her perspective (well, it hadn't really [I]looked[/I] like him, being as he had looked like an alien and all but he knew it [I]had[/I] been him) - it would haunt him for a long time. He had [I]felt[/I] her despair and her sense of betrayal as the end had come. Because, in that connection, he had [I]been[/I] her at the moment of death.  
  
What if Isabel was right and they were all doomed to repeat the same mistakes over in this life? What if instead of Kate this time, it was Maria or Alex or Michael? What if he somehow became responsible for Isabel's death? What about Tess or even Kyle? Hell, hadn't he already once almost gotten Kyle killed just because of who he was? What if next time it was [I]really[/I] his fault?  
  
In fact, hadn't the end of the world once been his fault? A future version of himself had even come back to stop he and Liz from making the same mistakes after all.  
  
Max glanced at Tess out of the corner of his eye, wondered if she was even now contemplating leaving town. If so, what could he do to stop her? He certainly wouldn't give up Liz. He just couldn't. He knew that, inherently, this was why he was a bad leader. He could not be completely selfless and that was what his friends needed now. Someone who wasn't concerned about his own wants and desires before their lives.  
  
No, he could easily believe that he had been a bad king.  
  
[I]I know you weren't like that. I know [/I]you.  
  
Liz's voice penetrated his little pity party for one as he stared at his friends, as he wondered how he could ever be strong enough for these people.  
  
Max steeled his spine. He could be strong enough because he had Liz. [I]She[/I] believed in him. She believed in him so much, she had been willing to destroy her own heart just because a future version of himself had asked her to. She was right after all. There was no way that he would [I]ever[/I] do anything to purposely hurt his friends. Whoever he had been before, he was not that person now and he wouldn't become him either. Hadn't he told Isabel earlier that whatever had happened before didn't matter? It was ridiculous that he wasn't letting himself see that the same thing applied to him.  
  
He knew exactly who he was and nothing was going to change the fact that he was first and foremost Max Evans, son of Diane and Phillip, brother of Isabel, boyfriend of Liz. Zan of Antar might be a part of his past, but he was certainly not going to play any role in his future.  
  
"She wasn't at home," Max told Michael briefly now, his voice firm, which pleased him. "I don't know where she went, but I'll fill her in later."  
  
"I'm not surprised that she's run off," Tess said, sounding annoyed. "Alex was just plain [I]mean[/I] earlier."  
  
Max glanced quickly at Maria, whose eyes narrowed, but she stayed quiet. Michael's hand instantly going to the small of her back was probably partly responsible for that, but at least she didn't say anything. The last thing they needed at the moment was more strife within their group. They needed to stay unified, needed to focus on their [I]real[/I] enemies.  
  
He grimaced slightly when he realized that, technically, Liz and Alex numbered among them now. Oh, this was going to be fun conversation!  
  
"He didn't mean what he said," Kyle was telling Tess softly. Max heard Maria snort, but ignored her, choosing instead to watch Tess's reaction to Kyle's words. Her expression lightened slightly and it was only then that Max realized that Tess's feelings had truly been hurt somehow. Had Alex said something to her? He made a mental note to do damage control later. The absolute last thing they needed at the moment was for Tess to feel like even more of any outsider. If they had ever needed their four square strong, it was now.  
  
"Whatever." Maria stepped forward, deliberately turning her back on Tess. Max sighed despite himself. "Max, where are Liz and Alex? What is going on?"  
  
Max ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. "It's a long story. But, before I start, I want you all to know that decision has been made and you're all just going to have to play along. I trust Liz to deal with this." He was actually surprised that he was able to say those words and mean them. Not that he didn't trust Liz. But his fear for her was just as great as his trust in her. He was still slightly amazed at himself that he had gone along with this at all.  
  
He was guessing that, somewhere deep inside, the connection with Kate had freaked him out so much, he almost didn't trust himself with Liz. That was it, he was sure. At this point, with their complete lack of information, he almost felt Liz was safer with their enemies than she was around him.  
  
He [I]knew[/I] who he wanted to be, he was determined that he would stay who he was, but that didn't mean that a small part of him wasn't still hearing Isabel's voice in his head.  
  
[I]I will betray you. Because I did before.[/I]  
  
The sheer irony of that statement now was that it seemed that he had deserved it. Vilandra's betrayal had been justified. Courtney had said so and his connection with Kate had only confirmed it.  
  
He had killed in his past life. He could do it again.  
  
"I don't like the sound of this Maxwell," Michael was saying, his grip around Maria's waist tightening. Max shook his head, forced himself to focus.  
  
"I'm sure you don't," he replied mildly. "But it doesn't really matter what any of us think. This is Liz's call."  
  
"Why?" Tess demanded. "What does she have to do with any."  
  
"She has [I]everything[/I] to do with it," Max interrupted firmly. "Listen to me, all of you." He looked at them all one by one, meeting their eyes. "There is going to be absolutely no more questioning of Liz. Everything she has ever done has only ever been for our benefit." He looked at Kyle. "What you helped her to do." He paused. "Thank you."  
  
Kyle looked uncomfortable, but nodded slightly, glancing at Tess, whose lips were pressed together tightly. Max shook his head slightly. He was [I]really[/I] going to have to talk to her alone later.  
  
"Would you please stop being so cryptic?" Michael snapped. "We all know Liz and Kyle didn't sleep together. Alex told us. Why did she pretend she did?"  
  
Max smiled slightly, despite himself. It really was hard to get to the point here. Because, dammit, there was just too much to tell. "She was trying to save the world," he finally replied quietly. "How and why, I can't go into right now." He looked at Tess again. "I need to talk to a couple of you privately about that first."  
  
Michael looked like he wanted to protest again, but this time Maria was the one to reach out and stop him with a warning squeeze.  
  
"Where did Liz and Alex go?" She asked.  
  
"They went to see Will and the others again," Max told her gently. "I know they both wanted to talk to you first Maria, but there just wasn't time."  
  
Maria's nostrils flared slightly. "Why are they shutting me out?" She demanded, her tone slightly high-pitched. "There is something weird going on with both of them. I can't believe Liz did all that stuff with Kyle." She was beginning to gesture wildly with her hands, her frustration so complete, "And she didn't even tell me! What is this all about Max?"  
  
"It's about why Will and the others are here," Max said, searching his mind for the easiest way to tell the story. He shrugged, decided that it was best to just say it. They certainly weren't going to believe him at first anyway. Hell, he wasn't even quite sure [I]he[/I] believed it yet. "They want Liz. And, for the moment, she's going to pretend that they've got her. Alex went with her so that she wouldn't be alone."  
  
"Hmm. Sources on the inside. I think I like it." Max looked at Michael, almost rolled his eyes at the gleeful expression on his best friend's face.  
  
"Easy there General." The sheriff stepped forward. "I don't like the sound of this at all Max. Who [I]are[/I] these people? How do we know that Liz and Alex are going to be safe with them? Did they or did they not already try and kill you and Isabel earlier today?"  
  
"Liz is sure that Will won't hurt her," Max reassured him. He tried to ignore the stab of concern this still caused him. He did not like the connection that existed between Liz and the other alien. He knew that this was no time for jealousy, but it wasn't fun to send the girl you loved off to bond with another man - particularly one you suspected she might actually, secretly feel connected to. Max and Liz had never been able to hide anything from each other when they connected and he had seen more than [I]just[/I] the Future Max stuff earlier that evening. He had felt her inherent trust in Will and it reminded him way too much of how she had trusted him after [I]their[/I] first connection.  
  
It wasn't that he didn't trust Liz. It was that he remembered how completely out of control he had felt when Tess had first appeared in town. He had been attracted to her, mainly because of a mind-warp, but her familiarity had also pulled him to her. Liz's recognition of Will was a frightening thing. Max was all too aware that if it hadn't been for the fact that he had healed Liz, she [I]never[/I] would have known of [I]his[/I] feelings for her, never would have given him the time of day.  
  
But Will she had recognized immediately. It was Will to whom she had been drawn at first sight.  
  
The simple thought of it was enough to make his blood run cold.  
  
Hell! This was a stupid plan! What if Liz [I]never[/I] came back?  
  
[I]Then you'd deal.[/I]  
  
He blinked as the thought appeared unbidden in the back of his mind.  
  
[I]Even if she isn't meant to be with you, truly, you are strong enough to survive on the memory of what she was to you - on who you want to be [/I]because[I] of her. In the end, it's her choice. You can believe in her like she's always believed in you, or you can freak out and become useless to everyone, like you have been for the past couple of weeks. But you know which way is the right way.[/I]  
  
"And you believe that she's right?" The sheriff asked. "Why Max?"  
  
"Because of who she is to him," Max replied tightly. "She was his wife."  
  
The silence that greeted this statement was so complete, Max could hear the water in the reservoir lapping lightly against the rocks far below.  
  
"Pardon me?" Michael was the first one to regain the use of his voice. No surprise there. He would actually be the easiest one to convince Max was sure. After all, he had been there when Courtney had told them about Rowena.  
  
"She's Rowena," Max told him. "I know it's true too. Earlier." He looked at Tess, feeling slightly uncomfortable, "Liz and I connected. She saw that the reason I was drawn to her from the beginning was because I recognized her."  
  
"Who is Rowena?" Tess demanded.  
  
"She's a link in their four square," Max replied. "Liz is like us. Will and Kate."  
  
"Oh Lord." Michael's voice broke through Max's explanation. "I should have seen this coming."  
  
"What?" Max asked, perplexed.  
  
"Remember I told you that Hal Carver told me that there were [I]eight[/I] pods when he let Nasedo and that other shifter go?" Michael raised his eyebrows meaningfully. "I'm guessing our new pals were in those pods."  
  
Max frowned. "That sounds highly likely. But it's kind of weird too. Why would our enemies have been sent in the same ship as us?" He looked at Tess questioningly. "Do you know [I]anything[/I] about this Tess?"  
  
From the expression on Tess's face - dumbfounded amazement - Max could see that she didn't. "I'm only beginning to realize how much Nasedo [I]didn't[/I] tell me," she finally admitted, sounding hurt. "Why wouldn't he have told me about them? Shouldn't he have been responsible for them too?"  
  
"Weren't there two protectors?" The sheriff interjected. "Maybe the other four were sent off with him?"  
  
"Maybe." Max shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, sighing. "We just don't know anything. At least with Liz and Alex on the inside, we might get some answers."  
  
He looked over at Kyle, who was clearing his throat. He looked disbelieving, which didn't surprise Max at all. "What I don't get here is why you think Liz is one of them. We [I]know[/I] she's human."  
  
"Right!" Maria jumped in. "Alex was looking at baby pictures earlier today. He must have been trying to convince Liz that they were lying to her!" She pressed her lips together, annoyed. "Although I still don't get why it all had to be such a big secret."  
  
"Liz has been living with secrets for weeks," Kyle reminded her. "Can you imagine having the weight of the world on your shoulders, like she literally did? Constantly having to worry that something you do is going to result in that." He looked impressed. "Poor Liz. I just don't get [I]why[/I] she thought you and she being together would result in that." He looked at Max questioningly.  
  
Max glanced at Tess. "It's kind of difficult to say."  
  
"Max! You keep looking at me weirdly!" Tess exclaimed. "Why? What aren't you telling us?"  
  
"Tess, I don't want to do this in front of everyone," Max replied gently.  
  
"Do what?" She sounded exasperated. "[I]I[/I] didn't end the world somehow!" She paused. "Wait a minute. I didn't, did I?"  
  
"Of course not!" Max said quickly. "It's just that, well." By the expression on her face, Max knew that she wasn't going to let it drop. It was just time to tell it all it seemed. "You left town Tess. A.well, a visitor came back from the future, through the granolith, and told Liz that if she and I didn't break up, you were going to leave town and when our enemies came we wouldn't be strong enough without you and.well, the world ended because of it."  
  
"Well, that's a cheerful story," Michael finally said after the silence had stretched out into what felt like eternity again. "I can't believe Liz even believed that. Who was this "visitor?" Doesn't Liz know not to trust strangers by now?" Max scowled at him. Michael's tone had been decidedly sarcastic during that last statement.  
  
"I would [I]never[/I] leave you Max," Tess added. Max grimaced. Oh hell. He didn't like the expression that appeared on Kyle's face at that one. And he didn't like hearing [I]that[/I] either. He was just glad that Liz wasn't standing beside him.  
  
"Well, be that as it may," he said, deciding that changing the subject was the best route, "Liz believed it. Because, the thing is, the visitor was [I]me[/I]."  
  
"You? And you didn't know?" Michael demanded incredulously.  
  
"Well, not [I]me[/I] me," Max amended. "But another me. From the future. I came back through the granolith."  
  
"The granolith? I keep hearing that word," the sheriff said impatiently. "What the hell is a granolith?"  
  
"That's one thing we need to find out," Max admitted. "Because when I connected with Kate earlier, I felt how much they want to get a hold of it. Until we know why, we're screwed. We know it can be used as a time machine."  
  
"How does Liz know that it was you from the future?" Michael interrupted, obviously still stuck on the whole Future Max thing. "Couldn't it have been a trick? A shapeshifter?"  
  
"Michael! Get over it!" Maria screeched. "Liz [I]knows[/I] Max, okay? If there's one person she knows, it's him."  
  
Max shot her a grateful look. "It was me," he agreed. "I believe Liz. The important thing is [I]why[/I] I came back. It must have been [I]really[/I] bad."  
  
"I would think that the expression "the end of the world" pretty much tells us that," Kyle muttered, earning a look from his father. "Sorry."  
  
"That's not what I meant," Max continued, choosing not to be annoyed. "What I meant is that it must have been bad because it sounds like we were both giving up an awful lot to change things."  
  
"What do you mean?" Tess asked.  
  
"Liz and I were married," Max replied. "It's mainly why you left town Tess. Because you and I were never going to be together."  
  
"Oh." Tess's mouth snapped shut and she looked befuddled. Max was surprised when she smiled slightly. "You know, I [I]was[/I] going to leave town a couple of weeks ago." She said it so abruptly, everyone stared at her in astonishment.  
  
"You were?" Michael demanded, sounding more annoyed than anything. "Why?" Max stared at him again and raised an eyebrow. Michael had the grace to look a little embarrassed and he shut up.  
  
"Because I felt like a total outsider," Tess replied quietly. "But since everything happened with you and Liz." She trailed off. "Max needed me. I couldn't leave him." She looked directly at Max, her expression troubled. "And now I don't think I could leave - ever." She paused, as though truly examining her feelings, then said quietly, "I know you don't love me Max. It still hurts." She shook her head, sending her blonde curls flying. "I can't say that I'm not still disappointed. I remember more than you do. I remember how we felt about each other before."  
  
"Tess, I don't think any of that is real," Max replied gently. "I'm sorry. Didn't Michael tell you what Courtney said? We had an arranged marriage. We weren't in love."  
  
"My memories aren't real?" Tess asked. "Max I [I]have[/I] them!"  
  
"My question is, why does Tess have memories and we don't?" Michael said, changing the subject abruptly. "All this love talk is pointless. Who cares?"  
  
"Michael!" Maria exclaimed. Max was surprised to see that she was looking at Tess with something actually approaching concern.  
  
"What?" Michael snapped. "Hey, I'm sorry if my thoughts are preoccupied with the end of the world stuff. Liz made a sacrifice, I admire her for it, but it was [I]her[/I] choice. This is a different world now, am I wrong? If we don't figure out exactly how to make sure that whatever happened in the future doesn't happen again, everything she did to you," he looked at Max seriously, "Over the past couple of weeks will have been for nothing. Do we really want that? I've been here. It has not been pretty Maxwell. She did it though and now we have to use this second chance."  
  
"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Tess said firmly. "So you can stop worrying about that." She looked at Max. "I really feel like we're friends now Max. I believe that my memories are real, but if you don't, there's not much I can do to change that." She paused. "My point is that, whether we end up together or not, I feel like I belong with you." She turned her gaze to Michael. "All of you. And now I feel like I have a purpose here apart from destiny," she admitted. "You [I]do[/I] need me."  
  
"No one has ever disputed that Tess," Max told her. He paused. "I'm sorry if we made you feel like we didn't."  
  
"I can't say that I blame you," Tess replied. "I wasn't exactly forthcoming when I first arrived. I went about everything the wrong way. I see that now. But it was Nasedo." Her expression darkened. "He was all about secrecy and that's how I was raised."  
  
"Honesty really is the best policy," Maria interjected. Tess looked at her suspiciously. Max could see that she was wondering if the other girl was being sarcastic, was going for a dig, but Maria looked sincere. "I don't think any of us has done much to make you feel welcome Tess."  
  
"You were looking out for your friend Maria," Tess said. "I can't blame you for that."  
  
"Well." Maria shoved her hands deeper into her pockets. "Liz and I could have tried a bit harder with you. We just went into defensive mode right away."  
  
"Okay!" Michael exclaimed. "You're both to blame! Enough of this lovey- dovey stuff! What is the plan here? What exactly is it that Alex and Liz are doing?"  
  
Max didn't reply right away, still astonished that all the tension between Tess and Maria had been resolved that quickly. He wondered if he'd ever understand girls.  
  
"Maxwell!"  
  
Max shook his head, realized that he felt like a huge weight had abruptly been lifted off his shoulders. Tess was going to stay. It was one less thing they had to worry about and it was enough to make him want to shout for joy. Well almost.  
  
"Right, sorry. Here's what's going on."  
  
And, with that, Max launched into the plan he still wasn't entirely comfortable with but was going to support until his last breath because it was what Liz wanted.  
  
By the time Max got home, it was close to one in the morning. He considered knocking on Isabel's bedroom door, which was by now firmly closed signaling that his sister was back, but the thought was so exhausting after the length of the meeting at the quarry, he realized he just couldn't face telling it all again right away. And then there was the whole thing with Alex, which Tess had filled him in on while he had driven her back to the Valentis, wanting a few minutes alone with her to make sure she was really okay (which she seemed to be). The fact that Isabel had so deliberately chosen to stay out of his way tonight seemed to indicate that she wasn't ready to talk about anything either. Morning would be soon enough.  
  
He flopped back on his bed moments later, glanced at the clock and then at his answering machine. He felt a slight flash of concern that Liz hadn't called yet. It was pretty late. They had agreed that she and Alex would go to the motel and set things in motion but would then be home early.  
  
He sat up, reached out and picked up the receiver, dialing Liz's number quickly. He heaved a sigh of relief when she picked up on the third ring, sounding like she had been sound asleep.  
  
"Hi," he said gently. "Did I wake you?"  
  
"Oh." There was a long pause. "Yeah. I'm just really tired." Max frowned. She sounded completely out of it.  
  
"Liz, are you okay?"  
  
"What? Oh. Yes. Max. Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry."  
  
"You don't sound fine. You were supposed to call me."  
  
"I know. Sorry. I just needed to go to sleep." There was another long pause, as though she was trying to focus. "How did things go with the others?"  
  
"Pretty good," Max replied, settling back against the headboard of his bed. His heartbeat was slowing down now that Liz seemed to be getting her bearings. He couldn't blame her for being so tired. She had been dealing with a lot of stressful stuff lately. It was probably the feeling of finally being able to let go slightly that was making her want to sleep so badly. "I won't give you all the details right now, but just know that everyone is behind you. And we don't have to worry about Tess. She's okay with everything."  
  
"I'm sure," Liz replied, sounding slightly annoyed. Max frowned again.  
  
"Liz?"  
  
"What? Oh sorry. No. Never mind. It's just that I got some interesting information from Will about sweet Ava. Apparently we weren't exactly the best of friends before either."  
  
"Er, okay. So, everything's okay with Will then."  
  
"Yes." Liz's voice softened. Max swallowed. Okay, why was Liz being so weird? "He's going to leave you alone. We were right Max. All he wants is to be close to me. When I told him I wouldn't be unless he stopped threatening you, he accepted it."  
  
"That's good, I guess." Max realized that he had never found it this difficult to converse with Liz before. He didn't quite know what to say next. "Liz, are you sure there's nothing wrong? You sound kind of weird."  
  
"I told you I'm tired," Liz almost snapped. Max blinked. "Listen, can we talk about this in the morning? I'm being a total bitch and I'm going to feel awful about it tomorrow."  
  
"Okay," Max replied reluctantly. "Can we meet somewhere before school?"  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea," Liz told him. "I promised Will that I'd give him a real chance. I told him I wouldn't see you for a few days. It was part of the plan Max. Remember? He has to think I'm really trying."  
  
"I know," Max sighed. "But it sucks. I hate this plan."  
  
"Well, I'm sorry, but it will all be for the best in the long run," Liz replied briskly. "I'll call you tomorrow night. I'm going to try and arrange for you and Will to meet. It might take me a couple of days."  
  
"The sooner the better," Max insisted. "Liz." He was about to tell her that he was beginning to realize how bad a plan this truly was. He was glad that Will wasn't a threat to Liz, but the stress really seemed to be getting to her. All of this needed to be brought out into the open so that they could all work together.  
  
He was beginning to understand that there had to be a reason that they had all been cloned and sent to Earth in the same ship and he was beginning to realize that it was likely because they were probably supposed to resolve things [I]here[/I]. They weren't supposed to be enemies anymore. That the other hybrids were hampered by the negative memories of him had started him wondering if he, Michael and Isabel [I]not[/I] remembering was for a reason. Clean slates and all that. So what had gone wrong with Will and the others?  
  
"Night Max. I'll talk to you later."  
  
He stared at the receiver in disbelief. She had just hung up on him! He had been right in the middle of a sentence.  
  
Well, it was clear. This plan was not going to fly. Liz Parker would never hang up on him, especially after the hell they had recently been through. Will had done something to her. Max just [I]knew[/I] it.  
  
It took all of his strength not to leap off his bed and head straight for the Crashdown to confront her. But she [I]was[/I] tired. Maybe sleep would help her fight off whatever Will was doing to her. She was safe at home for now. He'd call Alex quickly before he went to bed to make sure that she was alone, but then he'd leave her in peace for the moment.  
  
But he was not going to risk Liz. It meant that the only way to resolve this was swiftly and cleanly. Which meant confrontation with Will. And he was not going to wait for Liz to set up some sort of summit. No way. She was already beginning to lose herself.  
  
It would be tomorrow, Max thought grimly. First thing. They were going to end this once and for all. 


	19. Chapter 19

[I]Part 19[/I]  
  
"Good morning!" Alex managed to avoid grimacing at the cheesy cheer in his own voice. He couldn't help it if he still wasn't entirely comfortable around Kate and her companions though. He didn't care how well things had gone the evening before. It was still weird to be hanging out with people who had tried to kill his friends only yesterday.  
  
While he knew for sure that they were not evil, he and Liz were engaged in a delicate balancing act at the moment. They were trying to pretend to side with Will, Kate and Jack and, yet, they were also trying to protect Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess too. The two goals were not compatible.  
  
But, at the moment, as his eyes met Kate's weary blue gaze, he couldn't help but hope that soon they would be.  
  
Things [I]had[/I] gone well the night before. He had spent a pleasant enough hour watching T.V. with Jack and Kate. It had been a strange thing to do, but had also served to make them more comfortable with him. He had already liked Jack after all. By the time Liz and Will joined them, he and Jack had been back to bantering, this time insulting various stars on the television rather than their fellow classmates. Kate was more quiet, but she had not seemed unduly resistant to his presence either.  
  
The fact that Courtney had just sat there the entire time was strange. Alex decided not to ask why she was there. He wanted to make Kate and Jack trust him after all. If he started interrogating them right away, it would take more time. Besides, the Skin girl had not seemed to be in any danger, nor had she seemed scared. She just sat on the bed, listening to their inane chatter, but not trying to join in. It wasn't until he had been lying in his bed later, thinking about the evening, that it had dawned on Alex that Courtney was completely resigned to her death. She wasn't even attempting to connect on any level with anyone anymore. She wasn't going to help either side willingly. Her allegiance was only to Michael and now that she knew that he would never betray Max, she just didn't care about any of it. She wasn't keeping any secrets, but she wasn't helping any of them either. For the first time, Alex felt sorry for her.  
  
For the first time he felt sorry for [I]all[/I] the Skins. What must it be like to know that your days were numbered, that you were going to simply shred away into nothing? These people were on Earth, fighting a secret war that, in many ways, was not about them at all. And now they were going to die because of it. War sucked. While intellectually Alex had realized it before, he knew it for fact now. It was started by people in power, but it was the little guy who always paid the price. Even if took two separate life-times.  
  
When he and Liz finally drove back to town in the wee hours of the morning, Liz had related the gist of her conversation with Will. It seemed that he bought that Liz remembered him. In fact, he had even given her something that he said belonged to her in her past life. Liz spent the ride home fingering the delicate piece of fabric that was tied around her wrist, not really focused on it, but obviously connected to it.  
  
"It's weird Alex," she said quietly at one point. "It's only a little piece of cloth, but, it's like, finally, for the first time, I'm about to find out who I really am. I know what Will tells me and what Max [I]showed[/I] me, but now I feel like I'm about to find out for myself."  
  
"Are you remembering?" Alex asked, concerned. This had not been part of the plan after all, having Liz [I]remember[/I] being an alien. He wasn't entirely comfortable with that proposition. He felt deep down that there was a reason that she didn't remember, a reason that she was more human than the rest of them. He had no idea what that reason could be, but somehow he just knew it. Hadn't the fact that Kate, Will and Jack [I]did[/I] remember, only made things worse? Even if he and Liz did somehow manage to broker a deal between Will and Max, in the end, it still wouldn't be entirely safe. Because, even if they came to a tentative trust, somewhere inside of them, Will, Kate and Jack would always remember what Zan had done. They might be able to get past it, might be able to understand that Max was not to blame, but they would always remember. And how could any sort of truce really exist in those circumstances?  
  
"Not really," Liz replied, sounding distant. "I can't explain [I]what[/I] I feel. I just know that nothing is as it seems."  
  
Alex frowned, but didn't ask anything more. He knew that a piece of cloth could not put Liz in any danger. He was worried about her, but they were both driving home, safe and in one piece, and, for now, it had to be enough.  
  
It was why he had found himself reassuring Max when his friend had called him in the middle of the night. It seemed that Liz had been a little weird on the phone with him. But Alex knew that sometimes things had to get a little weird in order for them to get any answers. Liz had been as normal as she ever was - at least since Max had healed her the year before. He told Max that she was just tired, had wondered if it was a mistake after he hung up, but ended up deciding that it wasn't. They had to give the plan time to work. It wasn't the best plan in the world, but it was the only one they had that didn't involve alien powers and blasting and killing.  
  
It was a delicate balancing act all right.  
  
And, yet, as he grinned at Kate now, he felt a new sense of purpose, a sense that it would all be worth it in the long run. That this [I]was[/I] going to work. Because, in the end, these were all good people and none of them really wanted this strife to continue if it didn't have to.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Kate asked, yawning. "Didn't you just leave?"  
  
"Well, I could take that as an insult," Alex replied. "But I won't. I know we all had a late night last night."  
  
Kate's eyes narrowed. "You are entirely too chipper for someone who insisted on staying over until the late, late movie ended. And it wasn't even good!"  
  
"[I]Attack of the Killer Tomatoes[/I] is a classic," Alex argued good- naturedly. "Jack agreed with me. Even Will got into the spirit of it after he and Liz had dealt with all their angst."  
  
"That's because guys don't know good cinema." Alex blinked as Courtney emerged from the bathroom, directly behind Kate. Kate stepped aside to allow Alex to enter. "I've been on enough crappy dates to know that by now."  
  
"You date?" Alex asked before he could stop himself.  
  
"I've been on this God-forsaken rock for fifty years," Courtney snapped, crossing the motel room to the mirror over the dresser. Alex tried not to grimace as she leaned in and peeled a layer of skin off her cheek. He felt Kate flinch beside him. "I had to do something to pass the time."  
  
"You seem to be feeling better this morning," Alex ventured tentatively. "I called Michael and told him where you were, like you asked. He [I]was[/I] worried."  
  
Courtney's expression softened. "I knew he would be. He's such a sweetheart."  
  
Alex raised an eyebrow. [I]Sweetheart[/I] and Michael Guerin were not two terms that he would have ever associated with each other.  
  
"Why is she still here?" Alex whispered to Kate as Courtney returned to the bathroom, a bottle of moisturizer tucked under her arm. He felt his gag reflex kicking in as he realized that she was leaving a trail of dead skin in her wake. Kate seemed to realize this, because she quickly waved her hand and it all disintegrated.  
  
"She knows that Rath won't reveal the granolith's location out of loyalty to Zan," Kate whispered back. "While she hasn't turned against Rath, it would appear that she isn't entirely ready to give up her life for him. I told her last night that our first goal is to find it. I think she wants to live."  
  
Which would explain Courtney's sudden change of disposition, Alex thought, a lump in his throat. This was not the same resigned girl of the night before.  
  
"The granolith can help her?" Alex asked nervously.  
  
Kate's head turned, her eyes speculative. "Didn't you know that?"  
  
"No. We don't know much about it," Alex admitted.  
  
"But you [I]do[/I] know where it is?"  
  
[I]Smooth move Whitman.[/I] The disdainful voice in the back of his head was back and it was pissed. "Er, well, I know that it exists. I don't know where it is." Which was only the truth of course. He knew the others had found it, but they hadn't told him where it was specifically because he had never asked. He wondered why he felt guilty for not confirming to Kate that Max and the others [I]did[/I] know where it was though. Maybe it was because of the way her expression fell, which, for some reason, made his heart hurt.  
  
"Too bad," Kate sighed. "Because it's all we really want. If Zan really doesn't remember, if he really just wants to stay here.Well, telling us where the granolith is - it would be the smoothest way to a truce. In fact, it would be the quickest truce in the history of truces."  
  
Alex frowned. "What is the granolith anyway? Why is it so important?" He decided not to tell Kate what he already knew - that it had once been modified to be used as a time machine. Those secrets were not his to tell. He and Liz were here to [I]get[/I] information after all, not to give it out, despite the fact that he was beginning to feel worse about it with every minute he spent in Kate's company.  
  
"It's hard to explain," Kate replied. "It has many uses. But a major one is that it has healing capabilities. It can renew life. It's why we need it so badly - to save our people."  
  
Alex stared at her. "Are you telling me that it can bring people back from the dead?"  
  
"In a way, yes." Kate shrugged. "It zeroes in on the problem and fixes it. Our people can't survive on Earth without their skins. The granolith could fix that."  
  
"No wonder Nicholas is so desperate to get his hands on it." Alex shook his head. He paused, then continued, "I'm sorry I don't know where it is."  
  
Kate smiled slightly. "I believe that Alex. And I'm sorry too." Her eyes were sad though. "Do you think that it would change things if Zan knew this? Do you think he would tell us where it is?"  
  
"To save the Skins?" Alex asked, surprised. "Kate, they tried to kill them!"  
  
"Only for us," Kate replied heatedly. "They're innocent Alex. They were only following orders."  
  
So were the Nazis, he thought. Or so they said anyway. Alex narrowed his gaze. "Your orders?"  
  
"Well." She trailed off, finally admitted, "No. We didn't know they had been found until after the Harvest was destroyed."  
  
"Isn't that kind of weird? They've known where to find Max and the others for a long time Kate. Liz was hired by Whittaker for a few weeks because she knew she was close to him. They obviously knew who he was. Why wouldn't they tell you? Isn't Will their leader?"  
  
Kate frowned, but didn't reply. Alex could see that she was becoming upset. Not for the first time, Alex began to wonder if perhaps the Skins didn't have an agenda of their own - one that didn't include their own royals. And perhaps Kate was beginning to wonder the same thing, if the expression on her face was any indication.  
  
"Why are you here?" She finally asked, shaking her head firmly, as though trying to clear it of doubt.  
  
"Liz asked me to come pick you all up. She wants me to bring you to the Crashdown for breakfast." He shrugged, when Kate's eyes widened in surprise. "That's Liz."  
  
Kate smiled again. "It sounds like Rowena. She was always bullying everyone into taking care of themselves." Alex felt a shiver descend his spine. He wondered if he was ever going to get used to the fact that she was referring to Liz. It was just too weird that his best friend was suddenly someone with a whole past none of them even knew about. He was used to it with Isabel, Max and the others, but Liz had always been the grounding force in his life - she defined normal. The fact that, suddenly, none of them really knew who she was.It was upsetting in a way he couldn't really explain - even to himself.  
  
He forced himself to push his fear aside for the moment. He had to keep acting normally. It was the only way to keep the balancing act going. Alex knocked lightly on the bathroom door. "Are you coming?"  
  
"Yup," Courtney replied. "I need to talk to Michael. I didn't know for sure before that the granolith could heal me. He'll help me once he knows."  
  
"He won't help you if he thinks you're just going to turn around and tell us," Kate reminded her gently.  
  
"I won't tell you," Courtney said evenly. "I'm sorry, but I was brought here against my will. Whatever you thought, I haven't changed my mind. If I can save my life, great. But I won't betray him."  
  
"Then you're of no more use to us."  
  
Alex felt someone brush past him, knocking him to the side. It was only then that he realized that the door was still open. He heard Kate exclaim, "Jack!" What happened next was so sudden, it took him a moment to even understand what he was seeing.  
  
Jack had Courtney's blonde hair wrapped around his hand, was twisting her head so that her neck was exposed. Alex moved forward as he realized that this could [I]not[/I] be a good thing.  
  
And, the next thing he knew, Courtney was gone. Well, not completely gone. A pile of dust swirled in the place where she had stood.  
  
"Jack!" Kate exclaimed in horror. "What have you done?"  
  
"We don't have time for traitors," Jack replied darkly. "She was a liability. I brought her here so that she could see the error of her ways, maybe go back and get us some information. Now that we know for sure that's not going to happen, keeping her around is pointless."  
  
Alex realized that his mouth had fallen open in horror. He closed it abruptly, wished that he could stop his heart from beating a terrified tattoo against his chest.  
  
How had he forgotten so easily that these people were dangerous? He took a quick step backwards, wondered if he should just turn and start running.  
  
"You had no right to do that!" Kate was yelling now. "You don't have the authority to take matters into your own hands! What on Earth is wrong with you?"  
  
"The fact that I'm [I]stuck[/I] on Earth is what's wrong with me!" Jack yelled back. "I'm tired Kate! We're so close but it's still beyond our reach. I'm just tired of it."  
  
"You [I]killed[/I] someone," Kate whispered, the change in tone so abrupt, it made Alex turn to look at her. He felt slightly better that she seemed as shocked as he was by what Jack had just done. How could this be the same guy he had spent time going over the finer points of Baywatch with the night before?  
  
"This is a war," Jack reminded her, his voice now gentle. "She was a traitor. Our people need to know that we will protect them, but only as far as they protect us."  
  
"Who are you?" Alex blinked when he realized that Kate had taken a step back too, was now slightly behind him, as though she was terrified. "You are [I]not[/I] Jack."  
  
Jack's eyes widened. "I am so."  
  
"You're not. Who [I]are[/I] you?" Kate demanded, her voice rising. "Will! Will, get in here!" Alex's head was now ringing because she had screamed almost directly into his ear. He wondered if it was wrong that he sort of felt kind of pleased that she thought [I]he[/I] of all people could protect her.  
  
Or was he so insignificant, she somehow knew that Jack would never even bother to hurt him?  
  
"Will!" Kate screamed again.  
  
Jack's lip curled. "Call your precious king," he snarled, his mask falling away entirely. "He's as weak as Zan is. You're all so stupid. Keep fighting amongst yourselves. It's only a matter of time now."  
  
With that, he turned on his heel and strode from the room, brushing past Will, who had finally appeared. He still had shaving cream on his face, which only accentuated the fact that none of these people had had any idea of the enemy in their midst.  
  
"What the." Will turned his head, watched the Jack impersonator sprint away. "What's going on?"  
  
Alex swallowed, put an arm around Kate's shoulders comfortingly. She was trembling. "Jack," she whimpered. "That wasn't Jack Will."  
  
And, with those words, Alex knew that the rules of this game had just changed again.  
  
***************************  
  
She awoke, her eyes gradually adjusting to the unfamiliar ceiling above her. She knew that she [I]should[/I] recognize it. It had been her ceiling for the sixteen years she had existed on this planet after all. This morning though, she felt like she was seeing it with brand new eyes. As she sat up and looked around Liz Parker's bedroom, she felt her heart beginning to beat more quickly. The realization that she was no longer Liz was only accentuated by the fact that this no longer felt like home.  
  
She forced herself to rise, moved to the vanity and picked up the photograph of Liz, Maria and Alex that sat there. She knew that until she adjusted, she needed to keep the facade of Liz's world intact. She needed to remember that these were her best friends, that Alex in particular was her ally in the game she was supposed to be playing with Khivar. It was sheer irony that because of the plan she had devised as Liz, Khivar had brought her back to herself. She didn't even know if he knew. She had done a good job of hiding it from him last night. She knew that he hoped giving her the scarf would cause this, but he had not known for sure that it had worked.  
  
She had seen the disappointment on his face when she had managed to continue to behave like Liz. She had continued the lie, even though she felt horrible about it. She loved him after all. But she couldn't tell him the truth. Not while he still called her Rowena.  
  
He had [I]always[/I] called her Rowena. She knew it wasn't his fault, that she was the one who had allowed him to believe that it was who she was. She hadn't even realized until last night that it had hurt her that he had never recognized that she was not his erstwhile betrothed, that he had not seen who she really was, not even after they had been wed. She had not thought she minded, that it was enough to be with him. But, for some reason, it hurt now. As she raised her eyes from the photograph and stared at her human face in the mirror - at the dark hair, the even features, the small scar, the dark eyes that did not seem quite [I]right[/I] - she wondered why.  
  
A light knock made her turn from the mirror to the window. She felt her heart enter her throat. Zan.  
  
He was crouched there, staring in at her, his dark eyes worried. His eyes had not changed. Why had hers?  
  
"Liz, I know I'm not supposed to be here. I'm sorry." He swung gracefully through the window. "I couldn't help it though. I barely slept last night. I had to come check on you."  
  
"Why?" She asked, tilting her head and staring at him. He had never frightened her - not until the bitter end. Not until he had shot her down and she had died in a pool of her own blood. But she was not afraid of him now. That was not his fault. His eyes were innocent, gentle again. This was Zan [I]before[/I] they had done what they had done to him.  
  
He stopped a foot away from her. "You were kind of weird on the phone last night," he admitted quietly. "I just wanted to make sure that none of this was getting to you."  
  
She tried not to smile ironically, fingered the scarf still wrapped around her wrist. Were things [I]getting[/I] to her? That was one way of putting it. She had told him she was sorry last night for her strange behavior, but he had still worried. It was what Rowena had loved about him, she knew. He was always worried about her. For someone who had never felt like anyone cared, Zan had been able to touch Rowena's spirit in a way no one else ever had.  
  
His eyes lit on the scarf she could not stop touching. He frowned. "What's that?"  
  
"Nothing," she replied. "Just a new look. Everyone will be wearing them soon." She smiled at his incredulous expression. "I'm fine Max. I'm sorry you were worried. I was just [I]really[/I] tired."  
  
He reached out a hand, brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. She felt nothing. It was like being touched by her brother. How strange that Rowena loved this person. She [I]liked[/I] him, but nothing else. Odd that two people who were so alike could love so differently. "You need to take care of yourself," he told her firmly, taking her hand in his and pulling her towards him.  
  
She tried not to be distant. She did not want anyone to know until [I]she[/I] was ready. She allowed him to touch his lips gently to hers, thought of Khivar. It worked. She was warm at least.  
  
And, yet, as he pulled back, his expression was odd. It was as though he could tell the difference. Zan had always been able to tell the difference. Perhaps that was why she felt such annoyance now that Khivar had not.  
  
"You should go. They're coming for breakfast." She lowered her eyes, refused to meet his, refused to allow him access to her innermost thoughts. He would know for sure then. She did not want to hurt him after all. She knew how ardently he had loved Rowena. It saddened her that he would never find her.  
  
It would be so much easier if she could just love Zan. But one could not control one's heart. For two lifetimes, hers had beat for only one person - Khivar.  
  
And she would tell him. Soon.  
  
"I don't like this plan anymore Liz," Zan said. "I want to talk to Will."  
  
She turned him gently, pushed him towards the window. "And I'll arrange it. You just need to be patient Max. I swear that it's going well. It may even be today."  
  
"Liz, it [I]has[/I] to be today," Zan insisted. "I just know that something really bad is about to happen. Will and I need to get past our differences and work together."  
  
"I'll try Max. But I want you to stay away from him. I'm only doing this to protect you after all. You have to let me make the decisions. I know Will. You don't. Don't you trust me?" That had sounded exactly like something Liz Parker would say. She was pleased with herself.  
  
Zan sighed heavily. "Of course I trust you." He reached out, pulled her against him again. "I just really hate this plan. Even pretending that we're enemies.It's wrong."  
  
"We were never enemies," she whispered against his chest.  
  
"What?" He pulled back slightly, looked down at her curiously.  
  
"We could never be enemies," she said quickly. "It will all work out."  
  
"Okay." He kissed her once more. She was relieved that it was short and sweet. Every time it happened she felt like she was betraying both Khivar [I]and[/I] Rowena. But until she figured out what to do, she needed to keep this charade alive.  
  
It was only after he was gone that she admitted the truth to herself. She did not want to lose Khivar. She knew now, just as she had known then, that if he understood who she really was, he would no longer love her. Because it was Rowena he had loved - Rowena he [I]did[/I] love.  
  
If he found out that she was not her sister, she would lose him. And, for that reason, Serena of Valonia could not exist. Not ever again.  
  
To be continued. 


	20. Chapter 20

[u]Part 20[/u]  
  
"Michael." Max grimaced as he watched his best friend beat down the fire that had erupted on the grill in front of him when he had sent bacon grease splattering everywhere in his impatience to finish the order he was working on.  
  
"I'm a little busy here Maxwell," Michael ground out through gritted teeth. Max could see that Michael was trying to covertly use his powers to put the fire out without letting the other cook see, but that he was only making things worse in his frustration. José hadn't yet noticed the problem from where he was sticking alien headed toothpicks into the omelettes on the pass-through, but if Michael kept making the flames [I]bigger[/I] rather than putting them out, this state of affairs could not last.  
  
Max hurried forward, muttered to his friend, "Cover me."  
  
Michael moved aside quickly, positioning himself so that he stood between José and the grill. Max took a deep breath and turned his concentration inward, calling upon one of his gifts - he still wasn't exactly sure [I]how[/I] he put out fires - to extinguish the flames. He was glad to do it. It forced him to focus his thoughts entirely on something that would have a satisfying outcome, even if it was a fairly insignificant one, something that had been sadly lacking in his life over the past weeks.  
  
He was starting to realize that the supreme irony of his life was that, despite the inherent part of his personality that craved order and control, he rarely, if ever, achieved it. It was something Max was slowly coming to accept, mainly because he had always felt in control of his own feelings, especially when it came to Liz. But after that strange little interlude they had just shared in her bedroom, he was beginning to wonder if he had lost his certainty of even that.  
  
Something had been wrong between them - wrong in a way unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It wasn't like when he had taken his step back last Christmas or when Liz had walked away from him at the pod chamber. It wasn't even like when he had felt his world ending a couple of weeks before when he had caught her in bed with Kyle. In each of those situations at least one of them had been the instigator of the breakdown of their connection. There had been a direct cause and effect for the severing of their bond. One which had never worked anyway. Because, even over the past two weeks - without a doubt the worst weeks he had ever lived - the connection had never been extinguished. He had still been tuned into her, had still been bonded to her in their unique way. It was why he had known deep down that she was lying about the whole Kyle thing after all, even if he hadn't realized right away that he [I]did[/I] know it.  
  
This morning had been different though. It had freaked him out because when he had kissed Liz, he had felt absolutely [I]nothing[/I]. No connection, no meeting of souls, not even any warmth. He had known last night, speaking to her on the phone, that she was not all right, had known it even following Alex's reassurance, and, yet, he hadn't done anything about it. And now something had happened. The worst part of the whole thing was that he had absolutely no idea what.  
  
Max lowered his hand, stared down at the sizzling grill with unseeing eyes. He swallowed as he was forced to admit to himself that it wasn't true. He [I]did[/I] know.  
  
Something had happened between she and Will. He had gone with his heart and had trusted that there was no way that another guy - [I]any[/I] other guy, even her past-life husband - could come between them and his heart had betrayed him. He had lost her.  
  
There had been no connection, no flashes to tell him that his fears were justified, but somehow he knew he was right. Things had shifted in the space of twelve hours. She was no longer [I]his[/I] Liz.  
  
He was surprised that it didn't hurt more. Maybe he had been expecting it all along, or at least since he had seen the instant bond between Liz and the mysterious newcomer in bio the day before. Maybe she had been doing him a favour with the whole pretending to sleep with Kyle thing. He had already experienced complete devastating heart-break once recently. Once more, this time for real, seemed like old hat now.  
  
Maybe it was just plain, simple shock - it hadn't sunk in yet.  
  
"Maxwell, what the hell's wrong with you?" Michael asked under his breath. "What's happened?"  
  
Max turned his head, looked at Michael. Why had he come in here again? Oh yeah. To ask his second-in-command (why did it still sound completely ludicrous to Max to think of Michael in that way?) to find Isabel and tell her what was going on. His sister had somehow managed to make it out of the house before him this morning, something that either heralded impending nuclear war or an early-morning fire sale at the mall, and he still hadn't managed to fill her in on the current situation. Now, with his present course set, he wasn't going to have time to look for her himself.  
  
"Nothing's wrong," Max replied firmly. He chose not to reflect on why he was keeping what had just happened between he and Liz to himself. Maybe it was still shock. Or maybe it was because he couldn't bear to admit that his faith in her had been betrayed. But he knew deep down that neither of these reasons explained it.  
  
He just didn't want anyone to blame her anymore. She couldn't help what was meant to be, what she felt, anymore than he could. He knew now that he had been destined to love her - that Zan must have lusted after Rowena in their past lives and Liz had been fooled by it for a time in this one. It even made sense. Rowena had obviously loved her husband Khivar and Zan had been so insane with jealousy, he had gone crazy and had destroyed her planet and then everyone they both loved. It even explained the insight he had received in his connection from Kate the night before - that Zan had not always been evil, that he had changed somehow. It was why Kate's grisly demise had been even more shocking to her. She had never expected such a thing of Zan. He had changed because he had been rejected by the only person he had ever wanted. Love spurned - it was almost a cliché!  
  
Now Rowena had found her real soul mate again and things were returning to the way they were meant to be. Max had been right once upon a time when he had told Liz that they didn't belong together. They never had. He had lived Zan's dream for several exhilarating, wonderful months, but now it was over.  
  
It still amazed him that those few short minutes in her bedroom had told him all this. But the emptiness between them had been so complete, so unlike anything he had ever felt in her presence before, there had been no kidding himself any longer. Whatever it was that had bonded them from the instant he had seen her in the playground that day long ago, whatever it was that had made the connection real for her as well after the healing, was just gone.  
  
He had lost her and now he had to concentrate on making sure it wasn't for nothing. He would fix the mistakes of that other person he had once been so that all the pain she had suffered in that life - and in this one - could finally be replaced by the happiness she deserved.  
  
There was only one thing he could do now. He was going to surrender. He was going to concede the battle before it was even fought. In more ways than one. He would do it for Liz. She didn't need him any longer and neither did Antar. It would be better for everyone if he just gave in.  
  
Max shook his head, focused on Michael, knew that he couldn't tell him exactly what he planned. Michael would blow a gasket and would also likely do something to stop him. Max's mind was made up. For once he would act like the king they all wanted him to be and he would do the right thing. He would not allow anyone to stop him - not even Michael. "I need you to find Izzy, need you two to meet me at the motel. Fill her in on the way."  
  
"What?" Michael's surprise was evident in his voice. "What about the plan? The idiotic plan you said no one was allowed to argue with?"  
  
"Screw the plan," Max told him evenly. "We're going to finish this once and for all. I just can't do this anymore Michael."  
  
"Okay, slow down." Michael grabbed Max by the shoulder and pushed him physically into the break room. "I'll be back in a sec José. Watch those eggs," he called over his shoulder. "Talk." Michael ordered him as soon as they were somewhat isolated.  
  
Max met his best friend's eyes steadily. "Michael, I can't get into it right now. Are you with me or not?"  
  
Michael scowled, stared at him for a long moment and then said, "You know I am."  
  
"Good. Find Isabel and then pick up Tess. I'll meet you there."  
  
"What about the others?" Michael called after him.  
  
Max paused, thought about it for a moment, then said over his shoulder, "I don't want them involved in this. It will all be over soon enough. They can find out after."  
  
"The Sheriff is going to be pissed," Michael warned him.  
  
"Fine. Let him be pissed. This is my war, not his. He'll get over it. Besides, once I do what I have to do, all the excess." Max paused, then sighed and continued, "Czechoslovakians will be leaving anyway."  
  
"Maxwell, I don't understand. If you've figured out a way to get them all out of Dodge, why didn't you tell us yesterday?" Michael demanded impatiently.  
  
"What I'm going to do wasn't possible yesterday," Max explained quietly. "But everything's changed now."  
  
"Max."  
  
"Michael," Max cut him off. "Just [I]do[/I] it. Please." With that, he pushed his way through into the alley, only to be brought to an abrupt halt.  
  
In spite of his new resolve, he still wasn't prepared to find himself face to face with Will. He had been ready to go meet his enemy on his own terms, but had not expected to be the one sought out. Because as his eyes met Will's piercing blue gaze, he knew that he was exactly who the other guy had come looking for.  
  
Apparently he wasn't the only one ready for a reckoning. The sheer irony of this was not lost on Max. Had Will waited another hour, he would have had the King of Antar exactly where he wanted him. Max sighed in resignation. So much for ending this peacefully. This was just not good, especially considering how well his last face to face encounter with Will had gone. The expression on the other guy's face did not bode well that this meeting would end any differently.  
  
Max clenched and unclenched a fist at his side, ready to throw up his shield at a moment's notice. He knew that if Will really intended to kill him, the shield wouldn't do much in the long run, but he would try anyway. He might be ready to end the farce that he ever could have been a king or that he could ever have truly found happiness with Liz, especially after knowing that any future for the two of them would end in disaster (hadn't he even come back from the future to tell her so after all?), but it didn't mean he wanted to die. He had not lied to Liz the night before when he had admitted that sometimes he thought it might be the easiest thing, to give up completely, but he also knew that he was too much of a coward to take that route. He was no Marc Antony, ready to fall on his sword. His experiences with Pierce had more than reinforced this fact.  
  
[I]And yet you're willing to give up on Liz and on your birthright.[/I] Max grimaced as the annoying small voice in the back of his head reappeared. Like he had time for doubts about that at the moment!  
  
"Can I help you?" He asked Will wearily, trying to hide the fear that had awakened in the pit of his stomach. He was not proud of the fact that he feared this guy, but he did. It wasn't pleasant facing someone you knew wanted you dead, whether you were willing to give up your throne or not. The hatred and jealousy Max felt for Will or Khivar, or whoever he was, really almost counteracted it, but not quite.  
  
"Don't play games with me Zan. You know why I'm here." Will's voice was quiet, but with an underlying steeliness that Max couldn't help but admire. He sounded like a king dammit. He wished he could do that. But, then, he had never asked to be a leader. Will had been born to it, had always known who he was.  
  
"I really don't," Max replied. "If it's to see Liz, I'm not going to try and stop you."  
  
Will's eyes narrowed at that. "Not that you could, but I admit I'm surprised. I was equally surprised to hear last night that you let Rowena come back to see me. It was a stupid plan Zan. She told me the truth almost immediately. Rowena cannot lie."  
  
"It wasn't my plan. But it's not my job to tell Liz what she can or cannot do," Max said. [I]Not that I don't wish it was.[/I] He was trying to control that side of his nature, the side that wanted to keep the people he loved safe and close at all times. He couldn't run their lives. It didn't mean he didn't wish he could sometimes. If Liz hadn't gone last night, would she still have been so cold this morning? Would he still have his false claim to her? Because any sort of connection with Liz at the moment would have been just enough to make him want to deal with this. But the fact that he was standing right under her balcony and that she was likely still in her bedroom and that he still felt nothing.it was not reassuring.  
  
There was a long silence as Will stared at him. Max did his best not to squirm beneath the close examination. He might be scared but he was not going to show it. "You don't fool me with this innocent teenager act you know," he finally said. "You've fooled even my sister now, but not me. Never me."  
  
"I'm not trying to fool you," Max snapped. "And I really don't care what you think of me. It doesn't change what I was just on my way to tell you."  
  
"What I have to do to get my cousin back." Will's blue eyes, which Max was beginning to realize, as he spent more time taking their measure, were strangely like Tess's, flashed with anger. Because of this analysis, it took him a moment to absorb what the other guy was saying.  
  
"Your cousin?"  
  
Will didn't have a chance to answer though because the air next to him had started to shimmer. Max watched with interest, although he already knew what was going to happen. He was proven right when a moment later Kate appeared out of thin air. Nor was she alone. Alex was with her, looking slightly green.  
  
"Well, it beats the bus," Max friend muttered as he shook his dark head, as though to clear it.  
  
"Will!" Kate practically shrieked. "Are you crazy? What are you doing here alone? This is dangerous! Rowena told you she would handle it."  
  
"Getting Jack back," Will answered mildly, not even deigning to look at his sister.  
  
Max sighed, looked at Alex, starting to get a little annoyed. Something had obviously happened and it seemed that he was being blamed for it. "I don't suppose you could translate for me?"  
  
Alex sounded more tired than Max felt as he explained, "So, I'm guessing you know that the plan is kaputsky?" When Max just rolled his eyes in acknowledgment, Alex continued, "They're a four square too." Max nodded, it being exactly what Michael had guessed the night before. "Jack is the fourth. He's disappeared, but not before dusting Courtney."  
  
Max felt a pang of sorrow at the news that Courtney had passed away. He hoped that it was mostly out of compassion, although he suspected, if he were to truly self-analyze, it was because he had wanted more information out of her before she died. This fact did not reassure him that he had changed much in this life after all. He did feel sorry for Michael though. His best friend would be upset by the news. But he knew there had been no way they could help her. Perhaps it had been merciful that she had been killed before she could simply shred away to nothing.  
  
"You know who he is," Will interrupted.  
  
"And that wasn't Jack," Kate insisted. "I told you that Alex. There is no way he would have done that."  
  
"No, that's more Zan's style." Will narrowed his eyes again. Max shifted uncomfortably. Those eyes.they felt like two beacons attempting to glean the secrets of his soul. "After all, we know that you're still allied with the Wendarians. Sending in a shapeshifter to hide the fact that you've kidnapped our fourth would be a good way to screw with us, wouldn't it?"  
  
"It would," Max conceded. "If I had an army of shapeshifters at my disposal. Of course, I don't, and the only one I did have was killed." He paused, glared, suddenly no longer willing to just stand there and take the accusations. He might be a psycho killer waiting to be unleashed, but he hadn't done anything [I]yet[/I] and he was tired of people saying he had. "Oh, right. By [I]your[/I] people." Good. Just enough sarcasm there. Even Michael would be proud.  
  
"Deny it all you want. I know it was you." Will raised a hand threateningly. "Tell me where he is and I'll kill you quickly."  
  
"Okay!" Alex stepped forward, his hands raised. He turned so that his back was facing Max, effectively blocking him from Will. "There is going to be no blasting. I told you already, I know that Max did not do this. Liz told you that she knew it."  
  
"You talked to Liz," Max demanded. "When? I was just with her a few minutes ago."  
  
"Er." Alex grimaced. "Well."  
  
"What he doesn't want to tell you is that Rowena and I have reestablished our psychic link." Max turned his head and stared at Will, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. "I woke up this morning to the pleasant sensation of having her back completely. She's no longer blocking me." The arrogant expression on his face was enough to seriously make Max have second thoughts about this whole surrendering business. What had he been thinking? This guy didn't deserve Liz!  
  
"Max." Alex said warningly, as though he could see the pleasant thought Max was entertaining that consisted of sending various parts of Will splattering against the concrete walls of the Crashdown. He knew that both Isabel and Michael had blown people to smithereens at various times. Why couldn't he?  
  
[I]Because neither Michael or Isabel has forgiven themselves for taking those lives - even though they were evil ones,[/I] that damn annoying voice reminded him. [I]And as much as you despise him, you know that Will isn't.[/I]  
  
Max scowled. As pissed off as it made him, he did know it. Because he knew that Liz would never trust someone who was evil and she trusted Will. Bloody hell. Max had lost her, yes, but it didn't mean that she still wasn't the person whose opinion he most respected in the world. If she had chosen this guy, then he could not be bad.  
  
"Big bad Zan wants to come out and play," Will muttered, not quite loud enough that it could truly be considered a taunt, but close enough. Max gritted his teeth, but ignored him, decided to focus on Kate, who had by now established a death grip on her brother's arm. Max smirked slightly because she was apparently using her nails if the flash of pain that crossed Will's face was any indication.  
  
If there was one thing Max couldn't stand it was a poor winner. If he had hated Will before, the depths of his antipathy could not now be measured.  
  
"I don't know where your cousin is," he told Kate evenly. "I'm sorry." He paused, then said, shocking even himself, "Do you need my help to find him? I was bringing the others to see you all anyway." Kate looked like she wanted to interrupt for more information about that, but Max pressed on resolutely, although he still didn't quite know what he was doing, "We know this town better than you do. I can have a search party ready in half an hour."  
  
Will snorted at that but Kate's expression softened. "Why would you do that?"  
  
"For Liz," Alex guessed, looking flabbergasted at Max's offer. "It's for Liz, isn't it?"  
  
"If someone has taken your cousin, my guess is that they can't be very friendly to anyone I care about," Max replied. But Alex was right of course. It was for Liz. Because she would care about this Jack character having gone missing. Max just [I]knew[/I] that she would. "And let's just say that I really want to find out what the hell is going on around here. Because if there's a rogue shapeshifter running around, I need to know about it." He paused, then added, "Being as they're supposedly on my side." Not that it had ever done them any good.  
  
Will did not look convinced but Kate actually smiled, "Thank you Zan."  
  
"It's Max," he replied firmly. "I'm not Zan."  
  
Her blue eyes met his steadily. "You are." He blinked when her voice was abruptly in his thoughts. [I]And it's not all bad.[/I]  
  
Max frowned, but didn't have time to pursue the comment because the back door to the restaurant flew open at that moment. He felt his heart start to beat more quickly as Liz came through, a slightly harried expression on her face. "Sorry! I meant to be here sooner but I was on the phone with Maria. She's heading over." She looked at Alex meaningfully. "We have some bridges to mend there," she sighed.  
  
Max could not take his eyes off her. It was the moment of truth. How would she behave with both he and Will standing right in front of her?  
  
Somehow, in spite of it all, he was not surprised when she came and stood next to him. He had known that it was what would happen. Because neither she nor Will knew that he was aware that she was shut off from him, that the connection had been broken. Whatever was going on between the two of them, Max knew that Liz would not want to hurt [I]him[/I]. And Will would understand because it was who Liz was, sounded like it was who Rowena had been as well.  
  
She had always been kind. And until she had a chance to let him down easily, a chance to fix things for them all, she would not betray that she no longer wanted him. She would pretend for a while, but she would tell him the truth eventually. Wasn't it why he had finally made her tell him the truth about sleeping with Kyle? The whole lying thing had been tearing her apart. She just could not do it anymore.  
  
Liz could not lie for long. She just did not have it in her. And, as this thought passed through his mind, as he tried to ignore the way his heart was literally breaking in his chest, he blinked abruptly.  
  
Because, it was only then that Max realized something that had been staring him in the face for close to ten minutes. As Liz moved closer to him, he felt his eyes widen. He had heard it twice and it still hadn't penetrated.  
  
Liz had never followed the plan. She had never pretended to side with Will. Will had said so and Alex had confirmed it. But last night on the phone and again this morning, Liz had acted as though everything was still going according to plan.  
  
She had lied to him. And even if the connection [I]had[/I] been broken, he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that it was the last thing she would ever do. Not again. Not after the hell they had been through over the past few weeks and not even if she no longer loved him. In fact, if the latter was true, she would have just told him. He knew that she would have. Because if he had felt the connection end, she had to have too. She would [I]know[/I] that he knew it was over between them. Which could only mean one thing.  
  
This girl was not Liz Parker.  
  
To be continued. 


	21. Chapter 21

[u]Part 21[/u]  
  
Serena knew the instant that he was on to her. While Zan had always been good at hiding his emotions, his eyes often betrayed him. It was usually only for an instant, but Rowena had once told her what to look for and she saw it happen now. The pupils dilated slightly and there was a superficial narrowing before his expression became once more implacable.  
  
She bit her lip. What was she going to do? She wasn't ready for her secret to come out, wasn't ready for Khivar to know the truth. It had to be on her own terms or he would never accept her.  
  
[I]Pretending to be Rowena is the coward's way out. Pretending to be Rowena was what got you all into this mess in the first place.[/I]  
  
The thought was so abrupt and so unexpected, she took an involuntary step backwards. Zan's eyes were now locked on her. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to understand what was going on. Because he was working without his memories, because he only had access to his instinct, he hadn't quite figured it out, but he knew something was wrong. She should have known that it couldn't last. His connection to Ro was far too strong. Liz Parker had been mistaken for his soulmate for too long now. The change could not have stayed hidden.  
  
And, so, there was really no way around it. She needed his help. As much as she knew it was a mistake, she was just not ready to confront Khivar. Glancing at him now, she could see the fierce expression on his face as he continued to glare at Zan. Khivar did not take betrayal lightly. She was not ready to risk everything - not until she absolutely knew exactly how much he remembered about before. Because while she knew from his conversations with Liz that he remembered most of it, some of it was wrong. What she didn't understand was why. She also knew that he had deliberately left things out, accentuating the positive.  
  
He had not told Liz that Rowena had not always been a completely willing wife.  
  
No, that had only changed once [I]she[/I] had replaced her sister. And the most horrible part of all was that he was going to figure out that Rowena had never loved him - that Serena had taken her sister's place to save Ro from a marriage she did not want. He was not going to understand and he was not going to believe that he had ended up with the only one who could have ever been right for him anyway.  
  
He wouldn't see it that way though. Because it was not [I]her[/I] he loved. And she just could not face it yet.  
  
"I'm with Max," she blurted without thinking. She saw Khivar glance at her, frowning slightly. He couldn't be suspicious! Liz had told him that she was not going to turn on Max. It wasn't entirely illogical that she would want to be paired with him now. He did not know that she had taken over Liz's body, that her essence had established itself through the blood on the scarf around her wrist.  
  
She fingered the scarf lightly, felt her heart beginning to beat unsteadily. If he knew that it had worked, giving her back the item she had most treasured in her past life, he would immediately get the wrong idea. He would think she was Rowena. And she couldn't continue that lie any longer. When she revealed herself to him, it would be as Serena and no one else. Until then she would stay Liz Parker.  
  
Serena swallowed, looked at Zan, whose eyes had narrowed even more. "It might be better if you go with one of the others Liz," he said, almost challengingly. "We both know the town. It doesn't make sense for us to be together."  
  
She raised her chin, hoping it wasn't too suspicious, and insisted. "Alex can take Will and Kate. We'll send Michael and Maria out together, Isabel with the sheriff and Kyle with Tess. It does make sense Max, if you think about it. This way there'll be a human and a." She paused, searching for the code word she knew Liz used for aliens. "Czechoslovakian in each group."  
  
"I don't like this." Serena sighed, glancing at Khivar, who had returned to glaring at Zan. It didn't surprise her though. One of the things she had so loved about Khivar before was his complete inability to hide his vulnerability - at least to her. As much as he came across as competent and secure in his position, he had harbored a secret jealousy of Zan, who, despite his father's disappointment in him, had always been held up in their system as the shining example of what a prince should be. Just because Zan's father had wanted his son to be even more than he was did not mean Khivar had not known that Zan was worthy of his throne.  
  
Or at least he had been until what happened to he and Rowena. Serena still regretted that she had ever left them, but how could she have known what was going to happen? She could not have known, had not even dreamt it could. It was why she had gone to Zan in an attempt to reason with him after he destroyed Valonia. She really could not believe that he could have changed so much. And she had been right. It was only when she had looked into his eyes right before he had killed her that she had known the truth. And, by then, it was too late.  
  
But the eyes never lied. At least not Zan's. And right now they were staring at her, burning into her as though he was trying to turn her inside out, as though he was trying to read her thoughts. She tried not to fidget under his regard, forced even breaths, made herself maintain her facade of calm. She was glad when another voice pulled Zan's attention away from her.  
  
"Will, stop being so difficult." It was Karana speaking, Khivar's sister. "We have no choice here. Every minute we waste is a minute less likely we're going to find Jack."  
  
Khivar stood with his arms crossed, but Serena could see that he was bending. Kara - or Kate, as she was now known - had always been capable of setting him back on the right course. They had always been a great team, Khivar and Karana, had always balanced each other. When one became emotional, the other remained stoic and vice versa, creating a solid sense of capability when they were together. Serena still believed in her heart that had Khivar and Kara not been separated at the very end, things might have turned out very differently. But when Karana had died at Zan's hands - or so it had seemed anyway - the final denouement of the tragedy that had been their past lives had become inevitable. Without his sister, Khivar had lost his closest advisor, the only person he would [I]really[/I] listen to other than Rowena. And, so, he had also lost himself.  
  
As she gazed at him now, Serena could not help but feel glad that he had been given this second chance - that what he had become had not been counted against him when they had all been sent to Earth to rebuild what they had destroyed. She knew though that this was a turning point. If Khivar rejected Zan's help now.  
  
"Think of it like World War II," Alex suggested, clearly thinking that Khivar was about to agree and wanting to push him over the edge. "We sided with the Soviets to take care of the greater of two evils and then we went right back to hating everything they stood for after." He grimaced, seeming to realize that suggesting that Khivar should go back to hating Zan might not be the best thing. "Or we could all just stay friends," he rushed on to say. Serena tried to look supportive as his eyes met hers. He was expecting Liz of course, so she smiled reassuringly at him as he mouthed "I am so lame."  
  
"Fine," Khivar finally ground out through gritted teeth, as though he absolutely had to force it with every ounce of his strength. "But it doesn't mean anything," he added, meeting Zan's eyes again.  
  
Zan just shook his head in annoyance. "Whatever. I already said I'm not doing this for you anyway." He looked at Serena again. "I'm going to call Michael and get him to bring Izzy and Tess here. They're probably already on their way to the motel."  
  
"The motel?" She asked, confused. "Why would they be going there?" Had Zan been planning a confrontation this morning? If Rath, Vilandra and Ava were all on their way to the motel where Khivar and the others had been staying, it seemed a logical conclusion.  
  
She moved forward, took Zan by the arm and pulled him away from the others, choosing not to look in Khivar's direction to see how he reacted to it. "Why were you going to the motel Max? I thought you trusted [I]me[/I] to take care of Will." She had to know once and for all what was going through his mind. How much did he know?  
  
"I had my reasons," he replied, his eyes piercing. He glanced past her, then took her hand, pulling her further away from Khivar, Kara and Alex and behind the garbage bin so that they were concealed from view. It was only later that she realized that he had done it in case he had to kill her. He had not wanted anyone to stop him if that was how it was going to end. She was thankful that she had not realized it at the time. Because Zan had never been frightening to her. Not ever. "And they had nothing to do with not trusting Liz." He continued, once he had her alone. "But you're not Liz. Are you?"  
  
She blinked at him, not really surprised, but a bit taken aback that he was still as direct as he had ever been. She finally sighed. "No."  
  
His eyes flashed with shock that she actually admitted it. He regained his composure quickly though. He might not remember being a king, but he still was in every way that counted, Serena thought ruefully. "Who the hell are you then? What do you want? Where is Liz? If you've hurt her, I swear I'll."  
  
"I [I]am[/I] still Liz," Serena explained patiently, trying not to flinch as his grip tightened on her arm. "You don't understand Zan. I've remembered who I really am too. My human side still exists. It's just that this is [I]really[/I] me."  
  
"Rowena." He sounded pained. "How? How did this happen?"  
  
"Why are you upset that I might be Rowena?" She asked gently, reaching out and taking his hand. "You love Rowena."  
  
His expression was fierce as he replied, "I love Liz Parker. And you've stolen her from me. I don't know where all these memories came from, but you've changed her. You are [I]not[/I] the same." He ran a hand across his face wearily, his anger draining out of him abruptly as he met her eyes and said quietly, "You are [I]not[/I] Liz."  
  
"No," she explained. "You don't love Liz. You got mixed up Zan. It's understandable, but Liz was never Rowena. She was me. Rowena." She trailed off, could feel her throat closing up at the thought of her lost sister. "I don't know where Ro is Zan."  
  
Zan stared at her. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
Serena just stared at him, unable to mask her sadness any longer. The sheer irony of this having happened was not lost on her. Khivar had been in love with the wrong person in their past lives and this time it was Zan. But he had to be told. There was no help for it. Because the sooner he accepted it, the sooner things could progress as they were meant to. "There were two of us Zan. You don't remember now, but you knew then. You were in love with Rowena, but I'm not her. She was my sister." She paused and then continued in a rush, wanting the worst of it out of the way. "And, as far as I know, she no longer exists."  
  
She saw the spasm that ran through Max's body. She realized instantly that he was not going to accept this easily. "When I tell you everything, you'll understand. It all started when you."  
  
"[I]Maxwell![/I] Get your butt over here!"  
  
Zan blinked. "That's Michael," he said unnecessarily. Serena knew it after all. "What's [I]he[/I] doing here?" He stared at her. "You're still going to tell me everything."  
  
"I will," she promised. "Just make sure we're together. Alone."  
  
"Why can't you just tell everyone. Why all the secrecy?"  
  
"I don't want Khivar to know," she admitted quietly.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because he never knew that there were two of us. It is going to come as a blow."  
  
There was a short pause, then Max said. "I believe you. But I want you to know, that none of it changes how I feel about you. Whether you're Serena or Rowena or the queen of Sheba, you are still Liz and you're the person I love. And I'm going to get you back to who you really are."  
  
"Zan."  
  
"Max," he intoned firmly. "We are Max and Liz. Try to remember that." Then he turned and left her staring after him as he went to rejoin the others.  
  
***************************************  
  
Kate grabbed Will by the arm as he made a move to go after Liz and Max. She had not been the only one who had felt the weirdness in the air between the two of them. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but, then, she had never been in the company of both of them at the same time before. She also wasn't sure [I]how[/I] their relationship worked. They were presently engaged in a tense-looking exchange further down the alley. She could actually [I]feel[/I] Will's blood pressure rising as Max grabbed Liz by the hand and pulled her behind the garbage bin.  
  
"She told you she loves him," Kate reminded him quietly, not wanting to hurt him, but wanting him to start accepting reality. "Things might change someday, but, for now, friends is all you're going to get from her Will. You have to control yourself around him. She's not going to put up with it for long."  
  
Will turned his head, glared at her. "You [I]would[/I] side with him. I can't believe how quickly he's charmed you again Kate. He [I]killed[/I] you."  
  
"Okay, I'm getting a headache." This was from Alex. "Can we just [I]stop[/I] blaming people for things that happened in another life on [I]another[/I] planet?" Kate felt a pang of regret at the weary expression on her new friend's face. Alex seemed to be losing some of his steam today. He was more resigned than cheerful at the moment. "Max would [I]never[/I] hurt Liz. I swear to God, [I]I[/I] would hurt her first."  
  
"Well, why is he wasting precious time with her now?" Will demanded, obviously searching for another reason to be irritated at Max. "Is he going to help us or not?"  
  
"We can't do anything until Michael gets back," Alex exclaimed impatiently. "Would you please lighten up?"  
  
Kate tried to hide her smirk as Will stared at Alex, apparently not quite believing that Alex had just told him off. No one [I]ever[/I] told Will off. He had barely had any contact with humans before the last few days and everyone else in his life had always treated him with the respect due his position. But Alex just [I]didn't[/I] and it seemed to flabbergast Will on a regular basis. It had happened several times the night before during their male-bonding session too. Most of Kate's enjoyment had been at Will's fish out of water expense.  
  
Most of it, but not all, she reflected, smiling slightly, admiring the way Alex's eyes flashed when he was annoyed. It was entirely different from the way they looked when he was joking, which was most of the time.  
  
[I]Stop it![/I] Kate ordered herself, suddenly horrified. [I]What are you doing? Jack is [/I]missing[I] and you're thinking about how Alex Whitman's eyes change colors slightly dependent on his mood. Are you crazy?[/I]  
  
"Alex! What the hell is going on around here?"  
  
Kate was grateful for the interruption. She turned and backed up slightly. Rath - or Michael as he was now called - had come through the door and took in she and Will with one glance, his gaze narrowing.  
  
"Where's Maxwell?" Michael demanded. Kate could see more people following him through the door, including Ava, a dark-haired boy wearing a letterman's jacket and Liz's best friend, Maria. The latter hung back, her eyes on Alex, her tentativeness apparent. "Why are [I]they[/I] here?" Kate could hear Michael's attempt at disdain, but he could not hide the slight undercurrent of fear in his voice.  
  
"Max and Liz are having a little confab down the alley," Alex replied. He glanced at Will, grimacing slightly. "They'll be back momentarily, I'm sure. We have a situation here folks."  
  
"[I]You[/I] have a situation?" Michael demanded, abruptly annoyed. "Well, you're not the only ones." He turned his head and yelled, causing Kate to jump slightly. Why was Rath so volatile? He had never been like this before! "MAXWELL! Get your butt over here!"  
  
Kate glanced at Will, who appeared amused. The lack of respect in Michael's demeanor when it came to Zan obviously pleased him. It just worried Kate and drove home the point that these were [I]not[/I] the same people they had been before. There was no way that Rath would ever have spoken to Zan in such a manner in their past lives.  
  
After a moment, Max's head poked around the garbage bin further down the alley. He did not seem unduly upset at Michael's tone as he hurried back in their direction. All he said when he was close enough was "I'm glad you're here."  
  
Kate watched Liz trail after Max, looking worried. She wondered briefly what Max and Liz had been discussing. Max's frame was extremely tense. He had obviously not liked what he had heard. Kate bit her lip, wondered what this meant for Will. Had Liz made her choice? Had she changed her mind about who she wanted to be with?  
  
"You're glad I'm here?" Michael retorted. "I thought we were [I]all[/I] supposed to be at the motel?"  
  
Max looked behind Michael, his forehead creasing. "Where's Izzy?"  
  
"It's why I came back here in the first place," Michael replied. "Instead of going to the motel where you told me to go."  
  
"Okay Michael!" Maria exclaimed from behind him. "He gets the picture! We [I] all[/I] get the picture! He was supposed to meet you at the motel!"  
  
Max just sighed. "I'm sorry. I got side-tracked. Anyway, everything's changed again." Kate could almost see him trying to resist looking at Liz.  
  
"You're darn tootin' it's changed," Michael replied, reaching into his pocket and tossing something in Max's direction. Max caught it easily and then stared at it. "I couldn't find Isabel, but I did find this."  
  
"What the hell is this?" Max asked, sounding confused.  
  
"It's an orb," Alex supplied helpfully.  
  
"He [I]knows[/I] it's an orb Alex! We all know it's an orb. But you're Mr- Know-it-All these days, aren't you? And did you hear what came before that? No Isabel! Now where could Isabel be? And why is she staying away from all her friends?" This was Maria again, and she sounded upset, angry and like she wanted to cry all at once. Kate watched as Alex looked at his friend guiltily, like he understood why she was so suddenly annoyed with him. What was [I]that[/I] all about? Humans were so confusing. They seemed to constantly have undercurrents in [I]all[/I] their relationships. And ever since Kate had been in contact with them on a regular basis, so had she. It was extremely irritating to not be able to think in terms of black and white any longer.  
  
"I know it's an orb," Max agreed, looking at Maria, worry on his face, then looking away, deciding to ignore her little outburst. "But it's not one of our orbs."  
  
"Obviously," Michael said. "It's green. I found it on the counter in my kitchen," he continued. "I couldn't make it play though."  
  
There was a long moment of silence as they all stood around looking at each other. Or, at least, the aliens did. Because they all knew the only way to make it work.  
  
"We need a pair from a four square to make it work," Will interjected impatiently when it seemed like no one wanted to move. "Ro and I can do it."  
  
"Or Max and me!" Ava piped up, tossing her blonde curls. Kate saw a brief grimace cross Max's face at that, but he managed to quickly hide it. She didn't think that Tess had seen. Kate could not help the slight amusement she felt at it. Obviously Zan was just as reluctant in his chosen mate in this lifetime as in the last. But she should have known it already. Wasn't he in love with Rowena after all?  
  
"Well, since Jack and Isabel are both missing, I guess that's true," Max finally allowed. He turned his head and looked at Liz. "Do you want to." He trailed off uncertainly.  
  
Liz's eyes were sad as she said, "Okay. We'll do it."  
  
"Wait a minute!" Alex spoke up again, having apparently recovered from Maria's little attack. "Are you guys positive that this is a communication device? What if it's a bomb or something?"  
  
"It's a communication orb Alex," Kate told him calmly. "We all recognize it."  
  
"Why were the other ones grey?" Alex demanded. "This one isn't."  
  
"Grey is the official colour of the House of Antar," Kate replied. "Green represents our planet. It's probably a message from our people." A threat of some sort, Kate reflected ruefully. This was likely not going to help the whole "working together" situation. But at least she and Will would be here to defuse it. Or at least [I]she[/I] would, she amended, knowing that the last thing her brother had on his mind was peace. He was here at the moment for Jack alone and as soon as he was found, he would go right back to hating their enemies.  
  
"Oh, okay." This answer seemed to satisfy Alex. Kate liked that he had questioned the situation though. He was obviously only worried. He was, in many ways, an impartial bystander, and it was good to have those voices heard, particularly with all the tension that existed among them all.  
  
Max and Liz were still staring at each other Kate noticed when she turned back to them. Max lifted his arm and handed Liz the orb, almost challengingly, as though he was expecting her to prove something with it. She took it carefully, then moved towards Will.  
  
Kate understood abruptly what was going on. If Will and Liz could make the orb work than it was going to prove once and for all that they were the bonded mates. It would make it official, driving a further wedge between Max and Liz.  
  
She bit her lip as she watched Will gently reach out and take the orb from Liz. If this didn't work, it was going to devastate her brother. Could the fact that Rowena loved someone else - Zan of all people! - interfere with her bond with Will? And, if it did, how would Will react? He was having a hard enough time with everything. If the orb proved once and for all that she no longer belonged to him.It would be all bad, to paraphrase something Alex had said the night before.  
  
Kate waited breathlessly for what was about to happen.  
  
To be continued. 


	22. Chapter 22

[u]Part 22[/u]  
  
Will and Liz had been standing with their hands twined together holding the orb for what seemed like forever.  
  
Alex let out a long sigh when he realized that he had been holding his breath. He thought he heard Michael huffing with impatience but he didn't turn his head to make sure. He didn't want to miss it.whatever [I]it[/I] was.  
  
All he knew was that nothing was happening. He wasn't really sure what was supposed to happen, being as he hadn't witnessed that damn destiny message back in the spring, but it was pretty obvious that nothing was happening now.  
  
He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Glancing at Max, who was beginning to relax, he had to think it was a [I]good[/I] thing. But from the look of anticipation and hope on Kate's face, he felt a real spasm of desire for it to work, because she wanted it to, so badly. He couldn't help the slight admiration he felt that she cared so much about her brother.  
  
Of course, she wasn't the only alien princess he knew who cared about her brother. Alex felt a flash of guilt as he reflected that it was the first time he had actually thought about how Isabel might react to these proceedings were she around. The fact that she wasn't.He just [I]knew[/I] that it was his fault. Maria had been right to fly off the handle at him earlier. His loyalties were becoming divided and it was wrong. Even if he knew that he and Isabel likely weren't meant to be, he still owed her his allegiance. In spite of everything, she was his friend and he had hurt her. Sure, she had hurt him a lot over the past few weeks too, but the difference was that she hadn't done it on purpose.  
  
He had.  
  
As he stared at Kate now, he realized that it was true. Alex had been hurt by Isabel and he had known exactly how to hurt her back and so he had done it. It had been wrong. And now he was forgetting all about her because of the new girl in town.  
  
What if something had happened to her? She was obviously missing and it couldn't be a coincidence that there had been an orb left on the counter in Michael's apartment. What if it was a ransom message? What would they do then?  
  
Alex grimaced in frustration. Why wasn't anything [I]happening?[/I]  
  
He saw that Will was starting to sweat. Alex could see his desire to make the orb work imprinted on his face. Liz looked no less determined, but clearly for an entirely different reason. For Will, if he and Liz could activate the orb, it meant they were the mated pair. Alex suspected that all Liz really cared about was getting the information contained within it.  
  
"It shouldn't be taking this long," Kate whispered to Alex. "I think we should let Max and Tess."  
  
But Tess had obviously already decided that this was the route to take. "Give that to me," she snapped, having come from behind Kyle to snatch the orb from Liz and Will. "Max, come here."  
  
Liz's eyes snapped open and she frowned slightly. She didn't seem mad though, merely confused. Alex watched her gaze meet Max's. They stared at each other for a long moment. Max's eyebrow was raised questioningly, but Liz shrugged, then shook her head, beginning to look upset. Alex was surprised to see an expression of satisfaction cross Max's face.  
  
"Will." Alex felt Kate move away from his side to comfort her brother. Will had turned his back when Tess had taken the orb. Alex could see the tension he was feeling in the stiff line of his back.  
  
"Liz?" Alex asked quietly. "What happened?"  
  
She didn't answer though, merely narrowed her eyes as Max and Tess moved together and linked hands, holding the green alien communicator between them. Max seemed somewhat reluctant but Tess was eager, obviously wanting to prove once and for all that she and Max [I]were[/I] the matched pair, whether Max wanted to believe it or not.  
  
Alex was really tempted to start tapping his foot when nothing happened this time either.  
  
"Is it just me or is this all a little anticlimactic?" Alex tried not to smirk at Kyle's loud whisper. He wasn't quite sure who it was directed at, but this whole process certainly was turning out to be a whole big lot of nothing.  
  
"Okay, is that thing defective?" Michael demanded loudly.  
  
Max's eyes were open again and he was staring down at the orb, his face etched with concentration. "I can't [I]feel[/I] it," he finally admitted. He looked up at Will, who had turned around again, his face now expressionless. "I mean, I can feel that there's something there, but it's like a lock and I don't have the right key." Alex saw Will nod reluctantly, like he hated to agree with Max, but that he did in spite of it.  
  
"I think Max and Liz should try it." This came from Maria. Alex whipped his head around to stare at her, as did most of the others. "I mean, I don't care what [I]any[/I] of you say," she said, looking right at Liz, who, strangely, seemed uncomfortable. "I've always known that they belong together. I bet they can make it work. Especially if everyone's right and Liz [I]is[/I] a Czechoslovakian."  
  
"That's crazy!" Tess exclaimed. "Max and I made the orb work in the pod chamber. Obviously something's just [I]wrong[/I] with this one."  
  
"I've been thinking," Maria continued, ignoring Tess. Maria [I]thought[/I] about things other than Michael? Alex reflected in wonder. "Since Max told us last night that Liz is supposedly this Rowena chick. Is it or is it not true that anytime Max has made one of those alien thingies work, Liz has been nearby? And I'm not just talking orbs. I'm talking healing stones too."  
  
"This is insane!" Tess said. "What are you even saying?"  
  
Maria looked at Tess, exasperated. "Tess, I'm not trying to step on your toes here. I told you last night that I believe that [I]you[/I] believe that you and Max are supposed to be together, but try and look at it from an outsider's perspective. Because that's what I am and I don't have all the emotional baggage you all do." She turned her head, regarded Michael. "You've never believed that you and Isabel have to be together, but you do buy that you're matched in your four square thingie. You guys have always worked well together and since you've known that you are a pair, you've been able to control your powers a lot more. Have you noticed that?"  
  
Michael nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe." He paused, then admitted sheepishly. "Not that I'm very good even now."  
  
"You're improving," Maria reminded him, "And it's [I]only[/I] been since you found out about the four square. It's like you found your focus or something."  
  
"Go on." This came from Max, who was listening intently.  
  
"Okay, so think about it. When that orb worked the first time, Liz was there. And when you guys brought Nasedo back to life the first time, she was there too. She [I]wasn't[/I] there when you tried to heal him a few weeks ago and it didn't work. Maybe the times it did work, Max was tapping into his connection to Liz or something, without even knowing about it."  
  
"This doesn't make any sense," Will interrupted. "Rowena belongs to [I]our[/I] four square. Why would you even think about these things?"  
  
Maria glared at him. "I wasn't thinking that Liz was an alien dummy! I was thinking about focus." She looked at Michael. "It's why I haven't fully believed that you don't have feelings for Isabel - because she made you find your focus. I've always seen it with Max and [I]knew[/I] it was because of Liz and since your powers have improved lately, I thought it was because of Isabel. I thought you were falling in love with her," she finished quietly. "But now I see that's it's because of the four square."  
  
"Maria, are you insane?" Michael demanded. "I don't love Isabel! [I]You're[/I] the reason I'm more focused. Don't you remember what I told you? I don't trust that I'm not going to hurt you. That's why I've improved - so that I won't!"  
  
Alex wondered if Michael and Maria were even aware that they weren't alone anymore. "Michael."  
  
"Maria, I love [I]you[/I]."  
  
"Oh Michael! I know. I'm just saying that I'm not jealous anymore." She rushed towards him and they started kissing, making Alex's face flame twelve shades of read. Would Liz and Maria [I]never[/I] understand that forcing him to watch such displays was enough to scar him for life?  
  
"Okay, this is sweet and all."Kyle interrupted, who sounded like he would prefer to be anywhere but in the alley. Alex was beginning to agree. "But is there a point somewhere in our future? Maria, keep talking woman!"  
  
"I think these people are crazy," Alex heard Will mutter to Kate and was forced to wonder if maybe the alien king was right. While Maria and Michael seemed to understand what the hell they had been talking about, no one else did if the expressions on his friends' faces were any indication.  
  
Maria turned herself within Michael's embrace. "Sorry, got a little distracted there. Anyway, as I was saying, maybe it's because he loves her, maybe it's alien stuff, or maybe it's both, which makes sense because Michael has both now too, but, whatever it is, Liz makes Max focus. I think they can make it work."  
  
"Well, if that's true, why didn't it work with Max and Tess?" Kate asked quietly. "Liz is [I]here[/I]."  
  
"Yes, she [I]is[/I], isn't she?" Max's voice seemed strangely challenging to Alex's ears, like maybe Liz [I]wasn't[/I], although she was standing right in front of them. He looked at his friend curiously but could see that Max was staring at Liz, his expression firm.  
  
"I don't think this is a good idea," Liz said, worried and glancing at Will.  
  
"I think it's a [I]great[/I]idea," Max retorted. "Even if I still have no idea what Maria was [I]really[/I] saying, I think it's the best idea I've heard all day."  
  
Alex was beginning to realize that Max and Liz were entering into a battle of wills the rest of them couldn't begin to understand.  
  
"Max."  
  
"[I]Liz[/I]." Max's emphasis on Liz's name seemed overly significant.  
  
Liz finally sighed. "Fine." She stomped over to him, placing her hands on the orb along with his. "But this is stupid. It's not going to work. Michael's right. This orb is defect."  
  
She was cut off by a blast of light so intense, Alex was forced to shield his eyes. He heard Tess screech in surprise and Michael's patented "What the hell?" before he was able to refocus.  
  
"Well, it's about frigging time," Kyle muttered. Alex realized that the jock was now standing at his elbow, as though having identified the person most likely to commiserate with him through this strange alien sideshow. Alex could hear how pleased Kyle was though, as though he was happy that Max had made the orb work with anyone other than Tess.  
  
Alex did not reply, his entire attention abruptly focused on the image of a short kid, who was now standing in front of them. Or at least a hologram type projection of said kid was standing in front of them.  
  
"Hello Zan. Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me."  
  
"Nicholas," Michael ground out through clenched teeth. Alex tilted his head and studied the face of their enemy. He hadn't been in Copper Summit after all and hadn't seen him before. He didn't [I]look[/I] scary.  
  
His opinion changed abruptly when the image flickered, replaced by that of Isabel tied to a chair. Alex felt his blood run cold. Izzy's head was lowered, her blonde hair falling into her face. She was quite obviously unconscious. "Imagine my surprise to find Vilandra wandering the streets of Roswell all alone. She hasn't quite been convinced to change her allegiances again, but I'm working on her."  
  
Alex could hear Maria gasped as Nicholas's hand came up and planted itself firmly on Isabel's head. Isabel's eyes snapped open and rolled up into her head as she screamed. Alex couldn't tell what the little troll was doing to her, but there was no question that she was in excruciating pain. Nicholas chuckled to himself before moving his hand. Isabel slumped into her chair again.  
  
[I]Oh God! Isabel![/I]  
  
Had she been in that small monster's clutches since she had run out of the Crashdown yesterday? That was over twenty-four hours ago! Alex clenched his fists at his sides.  
  
"That's what we on Antar call a mind-rape Zan. I know you don't remember them, but know that enough of them can bring religion to even the most hardened atheist. Not only am I getting some interesting information from your sister, I'm also reminding her of exactly what kind of bastard you once were. When I'm done with Vivi here, she's going to wish she never knew your name. She'll remember exactly why she turned on you last time and she'll join Khivar again too."  
  
Alex turned his head to look at Max. Isabel's brother was standing ramrod straight, his jaw clenched as he listened. Liz was beside him, holding onto his arm and watching the message, a horrified expression on her face.  
  
He looked back and saw Nicholas's projected image start to pace in front of them. "Of course, as much as I know Khivar wants the lovely Vilandra back in his bed, there is something else he wants more."  
  
"The granolith," Kate gasped. Alex looked at her sharply. She seemed just as dismayed as any of them. "Will, what is he [I]doing?[/I]"  
  
"I'd be willing to make a little trade," Nicholas continued, turning back and staring right into whatever was recording him. "Your sister for the granolith. I want it's location by six o'clock tonight or Isabel Evans will cease to exist and Vilandra and I will have some fun before I turn her over to Khivar." He quirked a malicious little grin. "Don't worry about finding me your highness. I have my eyes on you. I'll come to you once I know you've made your decision."  
  
With that, the image flickered and disappeared. They all stood there in silence for several long moments. Alex knew his mouth was hanging open. His entire being was focused on one fact alone.  
  
Isabel. She was in trouble and it was all his fault.  
  
This was exactly what he was thinking when all hell broke loose.  
  
"SON OF A BITCH!"  
  
Michael was on Will an instant later. Kate screamed as Alex's friend thrust her brother up against the brick wall of the Crashdown. His rage was a palatable force. "Where is she? Where did your creepy little brat take her?"  
  
Will's hands were clutching at Michael's arm, which had him pinned at the neck. He obviously couldn't breathe, let alone talk and, fortunately, the lack of oxygen seemed to have caused the alien king to forget that he was capable of blasting Michael if he wanted to. Alex crossed his arms, not the least bit concerned that Michael might very well kill Will. What the hell had Will, Khivar, whoever he was, unleashed on them? How could he have allowed Nicholas to take Isabel?  
  
"Alex! Alex, stop him!" Kate had grabbed his arm, was shaking it. "Will did not authorize this. I swear to God." Alex looked down at her, scowling. Her blue eyes were pleading, but as he watched they narrowed. "Alex, I don't want to hurt Michael, but if he doesn't let Will go, I'm going to have to."  
  
Alex shook her off. In spite of whatever attraction he might feel for her, when it came to a choice between these new acquaintances and Isabel, there was no choice to be made.  
  
He glanced at Max, who stood staring at the scene in front of him, no expression on his face. A muscle twitching in his jaw was the only indication that he was at all upset. "Michael," he finally said, after what seemed like an inordinate amount of time. "Let him talk."  
  
Alex could see that Liz had moved forward, was tugging on Michael's arm. "Michael, he needs to be allowed to talk."  
  
Michael growled but loosened his grip. Alex was amazed that Will still didn't unleash his gifts. He had been half-expecting it. Instead, he took several deep breaths, coughing slightly, then managed to say, "I swear I had.nothing.to do with this." He raised his head, looked at Liz, who seemed to be the only person whose opinion he cared about. "I don't know what the hell he was talking about Rowena. I swear to God I had nothing to do with this."  
  
"I thought Nicholas worked for you," Max interjected. "Why did he take her if not for you?"  
  
Will looked at him, his expression, for once, non-confrontational. "He wants the location of the granolith. It's the only way to save himself. I did not order this though. This is not how we do things."  
  
"Can you contact him? Make him give her back?" Max asked quietly.  
  
"Maxwell! You don't [I]believe[/I] him?" Michael sounded outraged as he glanced over his shoulder at Max, because he was still holding Will firmly against the wall.  
  
"I can try," Will replied. "But the fact that he went and did this when he [I]knew[/I] we were already here working another angle."  
  
"You expected to convince Liz to tell you where it was," Max said, shaking his head in disgust.  
  
Will shrugged, after finally struggling hard against Michael and managing to break free. "Yes. I admit it. I thought that once Ro remembered who she was, she'd tell us. Once she knew that we weren't going to use it for anything but good. My only intention, ever, has been to save my people with it. I don't take playing with the granolith lightly." He paused, as though implying that others - namely Max - might. Will glanced at Liz, who had her head tilted thoughtfully, seemed to decide to abandon that route. After all, he was trying to convince Max to believe him. Hostility was extremely out of place at the moment. Alex almost felt proud of the arrogant alien king, like Will was, for once, thinking how what he said might be perceived.  
  
"Anyway, I don't know what he's doing," Will continued. "This was [I]not[/I] part of the plan. Vilandra is [I]not[/I], nor has she ever been, my enemy."  
  
"I'd guess not, seeing as she betrayed Max for you and all." Michael said sarcastically. Alex whipped his head around and stared at Michael. [I]This[/I] was news to him. "But it's all becoming clear now. You seduced her."  
  
"Who told you that?" Will demanded. "That is a complete lie!"  
  
"Nicholas [I]just[/I] said it," Michael retorted. "Didn't you hear it? We knew that you somehow made Vilandra switch sides but we didn't know it was by pretending to love her."  
  
Will was outraged when he snapped, "I did [I]not[/I] seduce Vilandra!" He looked at Liz. "Rowena, that is completely untrue!"  
  
"Then why the hell did the troll just say it?" Michael asked, sounding smug, like it amused him that Will wasn't nearly so perfect as he tried to pretend.  
  
"I heard him," Kyle agreed. "He [I]did[/I]say it."  
  
"I have no idea," Will said, sounding completely confused now. "I really have no idea." The tone of his voice was so unsure that Alex couldn't help but believe him.  
  
"It doesn't matter." Alex looked at Max, who gently took Michael by the shoulder and pulled him away from Will. "What happened before is not what is important." He glanced at Liz again as he said it. "The important thing is the fact that Isabel is being held by Nicholas and that Jack is still missing."  
  
"Oh God!" Kate stepped forward. "Will, he can't be working [I]with[/I] Nicholas?" She appeared on the verge of tears, making Alex's heart ache in spite of his new resolve to side with [I]his[/I] Czechoslovakians. She brightened. "Maybe he mindraped Jack too!"  
  
"You say that like it's a good thing," Kyle interjected. "Mindraping sounds [I]all[/I] bad to me."  
  
"I don't even know what he [I]means[/I] by it," Kate replied, lowering her eyes. "But he seemed to be implying that he could change Vilandra by doing it. Maybe he did the same thing to Jack."  
  
"Maybe," Will said quietly, obviously now upset. "I don't even know [I]what[/I] to think anymore."  
  
"We can figure all this out later," Liz interjected smoothly. Alex noticed that she had taken Max by the hand and was reaching for Will's as well. "Here's the thing guys. Whether you like it or not, we're all in this together now. No one knows what's going on and the only thing we can do is trust each other."  
  
Alex saw Max's eyes narrow, but he nodded, "She's right." He gently let go of Liz's hand and moved it towards Will. "You can go back to hating me after this is over if you really want to, but right now I need you to help me get Isabel back." He paused, then swallowed. "If you do that, maybe we can talk about the granolith."  
  
"Max!" Tess exclaimed, sounding horrified. "You can't do this! You're playing right into their hands!"  
  
"I said we'd [I]talk[/I] about it," Max repeated firmly. "And I will do anything to save my sister."  
  
Will continued to hold Liz's hand for another moment, his eyes glued to Max's face assessingly. He glanced once at Kate, who Alex saw nod in encouragement. He finally allowed Liz to guide his hand until he was grasping Max's in a firm handshake.  
  
"You've got a deal."  
  
To be continued. 


	23. Chapter 23

[u]Part 23[/u]  
  
"Max, I'm going with them."  
  
Max turned his head and regarded Alex. They had all returned to the Crashdown and were now scattered around it, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible. They were not taking Nicholas's threat that he was watching them lightly. Glancing around the café now, Max realized that any of the other customers in the restaurant could be Skins, watching, waiting for them to screw up. And making it clear that he was now working with Will would be a screw-up. They couldn't be sure that Nicholas didn't already know, after the lengthy meeting in the alley, but they wouldn't make it easy on him to be sure now either.  
  
And, so, if Will was really going to succeed in liberating Isabel from his rogue henchman, than they couldn't be seen in each other's company any longer. To that end, Liz was sitting at a booth with Kate and Will, in order to explain the alien siblings' presence in her parents' restaurant, and Alex was acting as go-between, speaking to Will in the booth for a few minutes and then coming to report his plan to Max, who was seated at the counter beside Tess, nursing a cherry cola. Kyle was on Tess's other side and Maria and Michael were in the kitchen since they had been scheduled to work the late afternoon shift anyway. Their presence would not be questioned.  
  
"Alex, I can't let you." Max began, then narrowed his eyes at the fierce expression that was beginning to cross his friend's face. "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"  
  
"Glad you noticed," Alex said. "I really don't feel up to an argument right now."  
  
"Me either," Max agreed, sighing. He rubbed a weary hand across his eyes, trying not to give in to his fear for Isabel. But if anyone would understand, it was Alex. "This isn't your fault Alex. I hope you know that."  
  
"I know I'm not the one hurting her Max, but if it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have been in a position for that little bastard to get his hands on her. I can't just sit here and wait. I know that if there was any other way, you would be going too. I have the option and I'm taking it."  
  
Max nodded, resigned. "Fine. I'll be glad to have someone with them that I know I can trust. With you there, I know that they won't forget that Isabel's safety is all that matters right now. Getting her out of there is priority number one Alex. We can find out what Nicholas is [I]really[/I] up to after. Make sure that Will remembers that. Please."  
  
Max glanced over at the booth where Liz sat with Will and Kate, his heart hurting a little. He could see how tense Liz was, even from here. She was uncomfortable, still convinced that she was Serena, and still trying with every ounce of her being not to blurt it out to Will - or Khivar as she called him. It pained him to see her so conflicted, even though he knew that she was wrong. Somehow he was going to have to make her snap out of whatever mind-control she was presently under because he absolutely knew that she was not in love with Will. What had happened with the orb had only proven that it was he and Liz who were bonded, not Liz and Will.  
  
They belonged together, no matter who they had been in their previous lives. He didn't care one bit if he had once loved Rowena. If Liz was Serena now, then it was Serena he wanted to be with. He just needed to prove it to her. As soon as Will left with Kate and Alex, he was going to do his best to make her remember who she really was. He was going to remind her what they meant to each other.  
  
Because, in the end, this life was the only one that mattered. To him anyway. They would deal with all the problems left over from that other life and then they would forget about them. He was no longer Zan of Antar and he never intended to become him either.  
  
Max did feel guilty that he was so concerned about this when his sister was in such deep trouble. But he also knew that it was absolutely imperative that they straighten this huge mess out once and for all. It was becoming ever more clear that he and Will were not meant to be enemies in this life- time, no matter what Will thought. They had all been sent in the same ship and that [I]had[/I] to mean something. It just had to. Nicholas's betrayal only reinforced this fact.  
  
Nicholas's threats had revealed to them that memories could be changed. Max was beginning to realize that this was likely what had happened to Will and Kate. They remembered things, but they weren't remembering them [I]right[/I]. It was the only explanation. Maybe they weren't even supposed to have any memories at all, like he and Michael and Isabel.  
  
Max was even starting to suspect that Tess's so-called memories were perhaps not natural either. Because, in the end, how much had he ever really trusted Nasedo? Not much. Maybe Tess had been programmed by Nicholas too, just as he was threatening to do with Isabel.  
  
The Skins had killed Nasedo, which was why Max was pretty sure that the shapeshifters were not on Nichola's side. Maybe Nasedo had failed somehow, had allowed Nicholas access to Tess at some point during the many years they had been on the run. From some of the things that Tess had revealed over the months Max had known her, it did seem that she had often been left to her own devices. It didn't seem far-fetched that Nicholas might have gotten his hands on her somehow.  
  
The important fact in all of this was that Nicholas was somehow connected to the shapeshifters, probably having killed them both. The odds were good that the Skins had murdered Will and Kate's real protector to gain control of their pods. It was the only thing that made any sense. Because there had been [I]two[/I] shapeshifting protectors sent on their ship with them. And if the second one wasn't dead, where was he? He [I]had[/I] to be dead.  
  
Unless the shapeshifters were working [I]with[/I] Nicholas and the Skins, which didn't seem to make any sense, considering Nasedo had been murdered. But this conclusion did match the fact that Tess had memories of a life with him that Courtney had denied were true. It also matched the fact that Will, Kate and Jack had been raised in close proximity to the Skins. And if this was the truth, then the other shapeshifter [I]could[/I] be alive and working with Nicholas.  
  
Max groaned, dropped his head into his hands, exhausted all over again. Why couldn't someone just remember and [I]know[/I] it was the truth?  
  
"Max, are you okay?" Tess asked, placing her hand on his back.  
  
"No," Max muttered, lifting his head. "But that doesn't really matter, does it?"  
  
"We're going to get Isabel back," Alex told him firmly, mistaking his obvious frustration. "I swear to God, I will make sure it happens."  
  
"I know Alex. Even if this plan doesn't work, we'll go after her the old- fashioned way," Max agreed. "I just hope it doesn't come to that."  
  
Movement across the room drew their attention to the booth where the others were sitting. "Looks like it's time," Alex said, sounding a little scared, reinforcing to Max the risk Alex was willing to take for his sister.  
  
Max smiled at him reassuringly, abruptly grateful that Alex Whitman had been brought into their circle. They didn't appreciate Alex nearly enough and Max knew it. "Thanks for doing this Alex. It will make it easier on Izzy, seeing a familiar face."  
  
"I just hope that this is as easy as Will seems to think it will be," Alex sighed, watching Kate and Will leave through the exterior door. "I have a feeling this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better."  
  
Max grimaced, wished he didn't agree. "Good luck," was all he said though.  
  
Silence fell over the counter as the jingling bell of the door signaled Alex's departure. Maria and Michael had both come out of the kitchen to watch him leave and Liz had also joined them at the counter.  
  
"What do we do now Max?" Tess asked, breaking the tension. Max thought he heard Kyle snort in derision behind him, sighed again. He wondered briefly if they would all ever just be able to get along.  
  
"Liz and I need to talk," Max replied firmly. He turned his gaze from the door, met Liz's dark eyes. "Right?"  
  
There was a long pause before Liz sighed, appearing resigned that this confrontation could no longer be put off. "I guess so. Let's go up to my room."  
  
Max hopped off his stool and followed her through the swinging door to the back, not waiting for any of their friends to say anything. What had happened with the orb was between he and Liz. None of them even knew how significant it had been. They did not need in on this conversation, never even needed to know about Serena at all.  
  
Because, as far as Max was concerned, all the Serena nonsense was about to be put to bed once and for all. She couldn't argue with the orb, with what the fact that they had been the only two able to make it work meant. But he wanted it dealt with and done. Because he [I]needed[/I] her, needed the connection back.  
  
He missed her.  
  
Max shut the door to Liz's room behind him, slowly turned to face her, trying to get his thoughts in order. He still couldn't [I]feel[/I] her, had no idea what she was thinking. It was making this supremely difficult. When she had been keeping the truth about why she had pretended to sleep with Kyle from him, he had always [I]known[/I] somewhere deep within him exactly what she was doing. It was only after he had known the truth that he had realized this, that it was why he had refused to fully accept it.  
  
But, now, since she had decided that she was Serena - someone who no one else seemed to have any idea had ever existed, not even those with their memories intact - he had absolutely no idea how to even begin to guess.  
  
For that reason, the ball was, in many ways, still in her court. He could question her as much as he wanted to. If she didn't want to find out [I]why[/I] the orb had only worked for them, then he was pretty much screwed. And, so, all he said was, "What happened?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Liz asked, sounding tired.  
  
"You know what I mean," Max replied, trying not to sound impatient. "With the orb. I thought you were connected to Will. That's what you told me."  
  
Liz collapsed on the bed, shaking her head. "I really don't know Zan. I have no idea why it did that."  
  
"I asked you to not call me that."  
  
She looked up, met his eyes. "Why? It's your name. Just like my name is Serena, as much as you don't want to admit it."  
  
Max narrowed his eyes at her, tried not to give in to the urge to just move across the room and pull her into his arms, to kiss her until she [I]remembered[/I] why he couldn't buy this, why he couldn't believe her. "I need more than just your word on this Liz."  
  
"Serena."  
  
"Liz," Max ground out through gritted teeth. "You are Liz Parker. Even if you are also Serena, you are still Liz. Why can't you be both? Everyone else with their memories is both. Kate remembers her past life but she knows it's not [I]this[/I] life. Tess too. I think even Will does, as much as he wants things exactly like they were. Where is [I]Liz[/I]?"  
  
Liz's expression shadowed, as though this was the first time she had even thought about it. "I.I don't know. I just know who I am."  
  
"How?" Max demanded. "How did you remember? What instigated it?"  
  
Liz bit her lip. He could [I]not[/I] think of her as Serena, as much as he could see that she was [I]not[/I] Liz. This was Liz's body, but she was not in there. He knew Serena was right about that. He just didn't understand [I]why[/I].  
  
He watched her closely. She was playing with the piece of fabric wrapped around her wrist, nervous.  
  
"Why are you scared to remember being Liz?"  
  
She closed her eyes, swallowed convulsively. "I'm just tired of it. I'm so tired."  
  
Max felt his heart go out to her, moved forward and sat beside her, managing to resist the urge to touch her. He didn't want to upset her any more than she already was. "What are you tired of?" He asked quietly.  
  
"I'm tired of not being allowed to be [I]me[/I]," she replied. "But I can't be. He'll never accept me."  
  
"Khivar?" Max refused to acknowledge the jealousy that ran through his veins at the mere thought of Liz with Will. She was not saying these things to hurt him. She presently did not even remember[I]why[/I] they would hurt him.  
  
"He loves [I]her[/I]. He'll never accept that the life he shared with her wasn't her at all." Her voice broke as she continued to finger the scarf. Max's eyes narrowed, wondered again why it was there.  
  
"It seems to me that he has the right to know," Max suggested after they had sat in silence for several long moments. He was still looking at the piece of fabric, noticing for the first time that it seemed to be covered with some sort of strange design.  
  
It almost looked like a stain. In fact, it looked a lot like [I]blood[/I].  
  
"What is that?" He demanded, lifting her wrist and examining the cloth more closely. "Why are you wearing this?"  
  
Liz wrenched her arm away from him. "Khivar gave it to me. It's our wedding cloth. It doesn't matter."  
  
Max frowned, unsure why he thought that she was wrong. He was pretty sure it [I]did[/I] matter, but he couldn't figure out why. He shook his head, tried to refocus. "I need you to tell me about Zan and Rowena. Why did you take Rowena's place? How did they meet? What happened to them that made Zan turn into such a monster?"  
  
"He wasn't a monster," Liz said softly. "That was not him."  
  
"I understand that he wasn't like that to begin with," Max said, trying to hide his impatience. "What I want to know is why he changed. It obviously had something to do with Rowena."  
  
"Of course it did. Everything was always about her." Her voice was not necessarily bitter, but there was something there that made Max shift uncomfortably. Liz seemed aware of it, because she smiled sadly. "I loved my sister, but it was tiring trying to live up to her."  
  
"You said before that no one knew there were two of you?" Max could feel his confusion growing, rather than lessening. Why couldn't any of these people just be straight with them? To top it all off, he didn't even know if he could believe anything Liz was telling him, even if she thought she was Serena. What had happened to her to change her so completely?  
  
The answer came to him so abruptly, he blinked, then stumbled to his feet in horror. How he couldn't have seen it before was beyond him. What was [I]wrong[/I] with him?  
  
Nicholas could change people with his powers. He had as much as said so. He had said that he could make Isabel forget being Isabel, that he could bring Vilandra out and make her change sides again.  
  
Which was exactly what had happened to Liz.  
  
Which could only mean one thing.  
  
Will had lied. He was in on it all along. And Max had just sent him back to his cohort, Alex in tow.  
  
"What's wrong?" Liz was eyeing him. She perked up. "Did you remember something?"  
  
"We need to go," Max said evenly. "Will isn't going to be able to get Isabel back." He didn't say anything more, had no idea how much she remembered about what had happened to her, nor if she had been working with Will all along to keep him off balance.  
  
"What?" Liz called after him as he opened the door and raced down the hallway of the Parker's apartment. "Max! Max, wait!"  
  
He ignored her, pounded down the stairs into the Crashdown's back room. The rest of their friends were waiting in the staff lounge, were all in the process of turning their heads to stare at him as he reached the bottom.  
  
"Max! What's wrong?" Maria demanded, jumping to her feet. She had been sitting on Michael's lap on the couch, both of them obviously on a break. "Where's Liz?"  
  
"I'm right here!" She was coming down the stairs after him, sounding out of breath. "He just freaked out. I have no idea what's going on. We were talking and then he went crazy."  
  
"We can't trust them." Max looked directly at Michael. "Will is still working with Nicholas."  
  
"[I]What?[/I]" Michael bellowed, already standing. "I told you Maxwell! Didn't I tell you?"  
  
"What a minute!" Tess screeched, throwing her hand up in Michael's direction to cut off his rant. "Max, how did you find this out?"  
  
"Liz isn't Liz," Max snapped. "She thinks she's someone named Serena and the only way she could possibly think that is if Nicholas mindraped her."  
  
"Oh my God," Maria gasped. She turned her gaze from Max and stared at Liz. "Lizzie!"  
  
"She won't answer to that," Max said grimly. "She doesn't remember being Liz."  
  
"Jesus." This was from Kyle who had been standing listening quietly until that moment.  
  
"Max! No! You're completely wrong!"  
  
Max turned his head, felt his heart ache at the thought of what Liz must have gone through. How could he have not realized this earlier? He moved towards her, pulled her gently against him. "I'm so sorry Liz. This is all my fault. I never should have let you go to that motel last night. They'll pay for this. I swear. We'll find a way to get you your memories back and we'll make them pay."  
  
She was pushing against him though. It took him a moment to realize it, but when he did, he released her instantly. "You idiot!" She snapped. "Will is [I]not[/I] working with Nicholas. I wasn't mindraped." She lifted her hand, pointed at the band of fabric around her wrist. "This is why I remembered."  
  
"What?" Max demanded. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"It has my blood on it. From before I mean," Liz said, more quietly, obviously relieved that she finally had his attention. She glanced around the room at the rest of the group, who were all staring at them in various degrees of shock and bafflement. She turned back to Max. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you an idiot. And I should have just told you in the first place."  
  
"I don't understand." Max wondered if anything was ever going to make sense. He had actually, for once, thought that he had broken through some of the confusion, and now it seemed like he had been totally wrong.  
  
"It has my essence in it," Liz explained patiently. "When I touched it, I remembered."  
  
Max stared at her, understanding dawning, followed immediately by horror. "The blood?"  
  
Liz nodded, seemed relieved that he had calmed down.  
  
"What? Essence is portable?" Kyle asked, earning a round of shushes from everyone else. "What?" He demanded, glaring at them all. "If it's portable, then why the hell have none of the rest of you found yours?"  
  
Max frowned. He could not take his eyes off of the fabric around Liz's wrist. Was it really responsible for shutting off their connection? What would happen if Liz took it off? Would [I]his[/I] Liz come back?  
  
It could not be a good thing that an object was so capable of taking over someone's mind, whether it belonged to them or not.  
  
"I want you to take that thing off," Max told Liz.  
  
"What?" She looked flabbergasted. "No! It's mine. Taking it off isn't going to change anything. I'm still going to be Serena."  
  
He crossed his arms. "Prove it."  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Where did you get it anyway?" Michael demanded. "And do we all have things lying around that might make [I]us[/I] remember who we really are?"  
  
"Khivar gave it to me," Liz replied, seeming relieved that he had interrupted Max. "I won't take it off."  
  
Max sighed heavily. Will had given it to her. He should have known. "Liz, please take it off."  
  
"No!" She was beginning to sound hysterical now, like her control was hanging on by the smallest thread. "I can't let go again. I need my memories."  
  
He moved forward carefully. She had backed up against the wall, was looking around like a caged animal. "Serena." Max said it firmly, making her pay attention to him.  
  
Her eyes focused and she stared at him. "I can't lose myself again Zan. I [I]can't[/I]."  
  
"Serena, Liz is not you. You know that. She [I]is[/I] Rowena. It's the only thing that makes any sense." Max had no idea where these words were coming from, but somehow he knew he was right. He remembered what Liz had told him on her balcony the night before - that he had recognized her when they were both children. That it was why she had finally believed that Will was telling her the truth about who she really was. "That cloth is screwing everything up," Max insisted now. "It does not belong to Liz. You know it doesn't."  
  
Liz's gaze dropped to the cloth. She swallowed. "Then why did this body allow the essence to establish itself? I must be her."  
  
"You're sisters - twins. Similar DNA. It's a simple mix-up. Just like before."  
  
"You're wrong," Liz snapped. "I know you are."  
  
Max tried not to allow his frustration to show. He could feel all of his friends standing tensely behind him. He knew it was probably killing Michael to not just move forward and rip the scarf away from Liz. But they had to do this right.  
  
Because even if Liz [I]wasn't[/I] Serena, someone out there was. And whoever she was, she might want access to the memories Liz was now harbouring. He could not deny that other girl the chance. Because, despite the fact that he had absolutely no intention of ever being Zan of Antar again, having his memories would certainly fix a few of the things presently wrong in his life. He could not deny someone else that option.  
  
And, in the end, whoever she was, she was Liz's sister.  
  
"You said that even without the scarf on, if you are really Serena, you'll keep the memories," Max reminded her gently. "Take it off and find out the truth. I promise you that if Liz remembers everything, I'll stop trying to deny the truth. Even if she [I]doesn't[/I], I promise that I will not rest until we find the [I]real[/I] Serena. I won't abandon you. This is a win- win situation."  
  
Liz closed her eyes, a shudder running through her small body. He could see her indecision. She was wavering though. All it would take was one more argument to push her over the edge.  
  
"You said that you were tired of not being yourself," Max continued quietly. "You're tired of being mistaken for your sister. But if you keep doing this, you'll be condemning Rowena to the same fate. She won't be free. She'll be trapped forever and the real Serena - who has to be out there somewhere - won't ever know who she is. This is wrong. You know it is. Liz is [I]not[/I] Serena."  
  
Her eyes snapped open, horrified as his words penetrated. As she understood that he was right. He knew she did. She started to frantically work at the knot on the scarf, as though she could no longer stand to have it around her wrist.  
  
Max hurried forward, gently moved her hand away. "Here. Let me. It's okay." He quickly undid the piece of cloth, pulled it away from Liz's arm and thrust it behind him. Someone - he didn't care who it was - took it.  
  
Liz collapsed against his chest. He could feel his heart racing. What if he was wrong? What if she still thought she was Serena? What on Earth would he do then?  
  
She was not moving, was simply allowing herself to be comforted. He could feel her small frame trembling against him, ran his hands soothingly down her slender back. "It's okay. You're safe now. It's okay."  
  
A small sigh escaped and the whisper he heard was so soft, he wondered at first if he had imagined it. But when Liz's arms came up to wrap tightly around him, he knew he was not wrong.  
  
She had called him [I]Max[/I].  
  
To be continued. 


	24. Chapter 24

[u]Part 24[/u]  
  
Kate watched Alex pace the length of the motel room impatiently, his hands clasped behind his back. He had a frown on his face, his eyes were glued to the floor and at one point she actually thought she heard him mumbling to himself.  
  
"Are you okay?" She finally asked softly, grimacing when his head snapped up and his glare was abruptly directed at her.  
  
"Why is this taking so long?" He demanded as he came to a halt. His expression was not modifying itself. He really seemed angry at [I]her[/I], although he certainly knew that she had absolutely nothing to do with Nicholas having kidnapped Isabel. She and Will were just as baffled by their general's behavior as Zan and the others. "I thought your brother had instant communication with the troll?"  
  
Kate stood, sighing. "I don't know Alex. I'm sorry."  
  
They had come back to the motel from the Crashdown so that Will could use his transmitter to contact Nicholas. She and Alex had left Kate's brother alone in his room to speak privately with the Skin leader. She had seen that Alex had wanted to stay to listen, but Will had told him that until he knew exactly where Nicholas was holed up, it was best that the general not know that Alex was with them. They didn't want any delays.  
  
Because from the way Isabel had looked in the message Nicholas had left for Max, it seemed unlikely that time was on the other girl's side. As much as Kate and Will were finding it hard to believe, their most trusted ally was torturing that girl and in [I]their[/I] name.  
  
And, as much as she didn't want to admit it to Alex now, Kate wasn't even sure that Nicholas would tell them anything. If he had gone so far out on a limb without Will's permission, then the Skin was getting desperate. He might use Isabel for what he could get from her - namely the location of the granolith - and then he would dispose of her. Because, in the end, Vilandra of Antar, in whatever form she presently inhabited, was still their enemy as long as she was loyal to Zan. They could not be sure that Nicholas would not hurt Isabel Evans in the end.  
  
It was why they [I]had[/I] to find Nicholas as soon as possible. Things were going well between Zan and Will. In spite of what she remembered, Kate was really beginning to believe that maybe they weren't supposed to be enemies anymore - that maybe they truly could make a new start and rebuild their system together.  
  
But if something happened to Isabel.There would be no hope at all.  
  
Alex was rubbing the back of his neck, obviously becoming increasingly upset. "Why is this taking so long?" He repeated, not really talking to her at all anymore. He collapsed into the chair beside the T.V., stared at her for a long moment. "Who is Nicholas to you guys anyway? If we're being forced to wait, the least I can do for my friends is get information."  
  
Kate flinched slightly at his tone. The way he said [I]friends[/I], he really seemed to be trying to drive home the point that he didn't particularly consider her to be one of them. "He's Khivar's general. He was sent after our ship to look after us."  
  
"Why wasn't he sent [I]with[/I] your ship?" Alex asked. "Wouldn't that have made more sense?"  
  
"We were cloned by our enemies," Kate explained. "We were just lucky that Nicholas found us before we came out of the pods or we might have grown up with them, having no idea who they really were to us."  
  
"Doesn't it seem kind of weird to you that the same enemies who killed you cloned you? Why would they do such a thing?"  
  
"To control us," Kate replied quietly. "Jack, Ro and I were already dead at home. By sending us with Zan and the others, they wanted us to grow up as Khivar's enemies, thus weakening him and strengthening Zan when he made an attempt to take back the throne."  
  
Alex scratched his head. "So why clone Khivar too? Because that's who Will is, isn't it? I mean, no one has flat-out said so to me, but it's been implied." He paused, frowned again. Kate could almost see the wheels turning in his head. "But you just said that you, Jack and Rowena were already dead. What about Khivar?" He didn't really seem to be asking her though. It was more like he was working out the problem himself, like he couldn't entirely trust her to tell him the truth.  
  
It hurt. She wondered at it. He was making it increasingly clear that his loyalties had never been in doubt, no matter what he had told her the day before. Since they had found out that Isabel had been captured, the jig had been up. He had been working for Max and the others all along. He [I]shouldn't[/I] trust her.  
  
And, yet, she still wanted to tell him the truth. She did not want him to keep looking at her like that - like she was [I]his[/I] enemy now.  
  
"Khivar - the [I]first[/I] Khivar - is still alive," she blurted out before she could stop herself. She almost slapped her hands over her mouth. What was she [I]doing?[/I] Somehow she had known it would be a mistake to bring Alex with them. It was a bad move to bring the one person whose opinion she cared about in the other group. Because, as much as she believed that Max was Zan as he had once been, she could still not entirely trust him. Michael and Tess were both unimportant in the grand scheme of her relationship with the other four square. She had never been close to Rath or Ava.  
  
For some reason though, Alex Whitman had affected her from the first time she had met him. And she had thought that she had touched him in some way too. But since they had found out about Vilandra, that was clearly all over.  
  
She hadn't had any idea that Alex and Isabel were so close.  
  
And why she cared at the moment when she had just told Alex the one thing he should not know, she could not explain to even herself.  
  
His mouth was presently hanging open as he stared at her in dismay. "What?" He finally managed to force out, sounding slightly strangled.  
  
"Khivar never died," Kate said, knowing that there was no going back now. "Will is his clone, but the original still lives. It's he who is sitting on the throne of Antar and it was he who sent Nicholas after us."  
  
"And it will be [I]that[/I] Khivar who will attack the Earth fourteen years from now and end it," Alex said, shaking his head in horror. "It's all beginning to make sense now. It was the one part of this I just didn't get. How if Max's enemy was on the planet all along, why would he destroy it? Because he'd be committing suicide in the process."  
  
Kate had frozen at the part about "ending the Earth" however. "What are you talking about?" She whispered.  
  
Alex's expression softened for the first time since they had left the Crashdown. "Sorry. I forgot you didn't know about that." He paused, seemed to be searching for the easiest way to explain what he meant. "Liz and Max haven't exactly been getting along lately," he began. Kate nodded, remembered how she hadn't understood the tension that she had witnessed between Max and Liz. If they were so madly in love, as Liz's proclamations and Kate's earlier connection with Max had seemed to indicate, why all the drama? She was unsure how this had anything to do with the end of the world though. "It all started when Max found out that he's supposed to be with Tess, but it got [I]much[/I] worse a few weeks ago when Max caught Liz in bed with Kyle."  
  
Kate felt her eyes widen. Alex noticed and grinned wryly. "It sounds a bit like a soap opera, doesn't it?"  
  
"How could she do that?" Kate asked. "That is totally unlike Rowena, to do something like that!"  
  
"It's not like Liz either," Alex agreed. "But Max caught them and he stopped trying to get back together with her. I only found out about all of this yesterday as a matter of fact. All any of the rest of us knew was that Max was basically a zombie and Liz was like manic crazy." He paused, shaking his head, as though he was still coming to terms with all of it himself. "Anyway, she finally broke down and admitted that she did it to drive Max to Tess. Because Max had come back from fourteen years in the future to tell her that if Tess and Max weren't together, the world would end - that Tess would leave town and they wouldn't be strong enough to repel the attack from their enemies when it came."  
  
Kate brought a hand to her mouth, shocked. "Poor Liz! I don't understand though. How did Max come back from the future?"  
  
"Apparently they modified the granolith," Alex shrugged. Kate perked up in spite of herself at the mention of the granolith. Alex seemed to notice because he raised a hand and said, "I don't know how they used it or where it is, so don't even bother asking. I wouldn't tell you anyway."  
  
Kate hadn't thought he would, but her reaction had been spontaneous. She sighed. "And you think that was Khivar attacking the Earth?"  
  
"Who else would it be?" Alex asked, narrowing his eyes. "They don't have [I]more[/I] enemies out there, do they?"  
  
"Not as far as I know, although with Zan, it's impossible to say for sure." She answered him off-handedly, still feeling dazed. The very idea of her brother, in any incarnation, being responsible for the destruction of a planet.It was completely beyond her comprehension, particularly after his horror about what Zan had done to Valonia. But, on the other hand, she had absolutely no idea how all the deaths he had been forced to endure might have affected him. She couldn't say for certain that it wouldn't be possible.  
  
And that scared her. A lot. Because without her faith that Khivar was the rightful king of Antar, where would she be? Everything she and her brother were fighting for would be for nothing.  
  
Alex was scowling again. "Okay, can we just stop with all the cryptic comments? Can you just tell me what happened back then?"  
  
Kate allowed herself to fall back on the bed, feeling inexplicably weary. "I can, but I don't even know if I'm remembering any of it right anymore." She sat up as abruptly. Now where had [I]that[/I] come from? What was he, her confessor? She hadn't even realized that she was really having doubts about her own memory until the words had fallen from her lips.  
  
She met Alex's eyes. His expression had softened again as he finally seemed to recognize her confusion. "This is all just as hard for you as it is for them, isn't it?" He finally asked softly when the silence stretched between them for what felt like eternity.  
  
"I don't know what to believe anymore," she admitted, unable to deny it any longer. "I know what I remember, but I also know what I saw when Max and I connected." She paused, then added, "I also don't believe that you would be friends with people you didn't trust completely. I don't know why I think that, or what it means, because I know that [I]they're[/I] your real friends, not me, and that you're only here because of them anyway." Kate looked away, unable to meet his eyes. "I'm trying to understand how we can be so wrong. I'm trying to really remember because I know you want me to."  
  
There was another long pause. Kate felt the bed sink beside her, realized that Alex had come to join her there. "Why do you care what I want?" He finally asked. "You should care for your own sake."  
  
She snorted slightly, turned to look at him. "Don't you get that it's [I]easier[/I] for me to just call them my enemies? That's it's what I've always done and it's what I really want to keep doing? I don't like questioning everything I've been raised to believe. And, yet, I am."  
  
"Why?" Alex asked, his dark eyes meeting hers. He seemed truly perplexed, like he really didn't understand. Kate scowled at him. What was the matter with him? Did she have to hit him over the head with it?  
  
"Because I care what you think of me!" She exclaimed in exasperation.  
  
Alex blinked. "Oh." Pause. "Okay." His gaze remained locked with hers. "Whatever you tell me, it's not going to change what I think of you," he continued quietly. "I do believe that you had nothing to do with what happened to Isabel. I'm sorry I made you feel like I thought you did."  
  
"I'm really sorry she's been hurt Alex," Kate said. "You have to believe that." She looked down at her hands, then added quickly, "She's really important to you, isn't she?"  
  
"Yeah. She is." She closed her eyes, was no longer surprised when it hurt to hear it. Because she was no longer denying it to him, she could no longer deny it to herself either. She liked Alex far more than she should. And it did hurt to know that he didn't feel the same. "She's my friend and, well, I sort of feel responsible for what happened."  
  
Kate's head came up and she stared at him. "How can you possibly be responsible?"  
  
"We had a fight," Alex replied. "She was out alone because of me."  
  
"That's ridiculous!" Kate scoffed. "How could you have known what was going to happen?"  
  
Alex shrugged, looked away. She realized that she wasn't going to convince him that he was wrong so she decided to let it go for the moment. She decided to try and take his mind off of it. "What do you want me to tell you specifically?"  
  
"I don't know. Everything?" Alex grinned, obviously trying to forget why exactly they were sitting here in the first place. She could see the lines of tension around his eyes as he tried not to think about what Nicholas might be doing to Isabel at that exact moment. "Start at the beginning. When did you first meet Zan?"  
  
Kate smiled slightly. "Vilandra and I went to school together on Antar. He visited her often and we became friends." If the memories she had of those early days with Zan did prove to be false, she knew that she would be disappointed. He had been kind to her in a way she was unused to from men of such power and influence. While she and Khivar had developed a close relationship as adults, as children he had little use for her, merely seeing her as an annoyance, as was the way with older brothers. But Zan had never treated Vilandra as anything less than his equal and it had been a revelation to Kate - or Karana as she had been at the time. It was why she had been so devastated by how much Zan changed later in life - so much so that even his sister had turned against him. When Karana had heard that Vilandra had changed sides, it was only then that she had truly believed that he was capable of the treachery of which Khivar had accused him.  
  
"I may have even had a crush on him for a while," she admitted now, as she recalled how upset she had been when she had first heard of his betrothal to Ava from Vilandra. Vi had been upset as well and it was only later that it had dawned on her that Zan was unhappy with the match. "But he treated me like a younger sister."  
  
"When did things change?" Alex asked, encouraging her to continue.  
  
"Vilandra and I finished our schooling and I went home with her because Khivar was unable to send anyone for me right away. He was preoccupied with a dispute my planet was arguing with Knosis. I'm pretty sure it was over trade rights. I wasn't really into politics until after the war started." Kate shrugged. "The high king on Antar, Zan's father, sent him to Valonia, where my brother had agreed to meet with the king of Knosis to clear the air, Zan acting as mediator. While he was gone, Zan's father died and when Zan came back to claim the throne." She trailed off, frowning. "I don't know.he was [I]different.[/I] The next thing I knew, he sent me home and when I landed on Sardica, I was told that Zan had declared war on us. The following year, the Antarian sky forces destroyed Valonia. It was awful. I had been trying to get in touch with either Zan or Vilandra to parlay for peace, but they refused to meet with me."  
  
She looked at Alex, who was listening intently. "So something happened on Valonia to change Zan," he finally said. He met Kate's eyes. "Do you think any of this had to do with Rowena? Could she be what drove the wedge between Sardica and Antar?"  
  
Kate shook her head. "I don't see how."  
  
"What if Zan met your brother's wife at the trade conference and wanted her for himself?" Alex suggested.  
  
"Why wouldn't my brother have told me that?" Kate asked. "He always said he had no idea what Zan wanted from him. He even sent Rowena to plea a truce with Zan. Khivar never would have put her in Zan's hands if that's what the whole thing was about." Kate's mouth fell open abruptly, as the truth suddenly dawned on her. "Oh my God. How could I not have realized this? Of course that's what it was. She was the only one Zan would talk to - in her capacity as Queen of Valonia he said, but of course that wasn't it."  
  
"And the reason that Khivar didn't tell you was that he didn't know. Rowena never told him," Alex finished neatly.  
  
Kate stared at him. "But it still doesn't explain why Zan changed Alex. Even if Rowena rejected him, he never would have reacted that way - by destroying her entire planet. Not the Zan I knew."  
  
Alex appeared deep in thought. "You know, I'm beginning to wonder if absolutely [I]everyone[/I] was being played. You brother, Zan, Rowena, Vilandra.everyone."  
  
"But by who?" Kate asked, searching her mind frantically. "Knosis was allied with Antar through Zan's marriage to Ava. They were small and unimportant anyway. And Wendar was also on Zan's side."  
  
Just as the door to the room opened, she raised her eyes and met Alex's.  
  
"I finally reached him," Will said as he entered the room. "He's being really weird. He wouldn't admit to me that he had Vilandra."  
  
Kate heard him, but continued to stare at Alex, watched the same thought occur to him that she had just had. She shook her head, disbelieving that the answer had been right at her fingertips all along - well, at least since Isabel had been taken captive without permission from Will.  
  
It was the only thing that made sense after all.  
  
"Nicholas," she and Alex both said at the same time.  
  
Her very own people had somehow betrayed them. 


	25. Chapter 25

[u]Part 25[/u]  
  
As she awoke to a splitting head-ache for the second time in twenty-four hours, Liz moaned. She felt a feather-light touch on her hair, became increasingly aware of her surroundings as she slowly drifted back to consciousness. She could feel that she was not alone, was reassured by it.  
  
What on Earth had happened to her? The last memory she had was of Will handing her the scarf he said had belonged to Rowena and then everything had gone black.  
  
"Will?" She managed to croak. The hand stroking her hair paused, then resumed it's gentle ministrations, although more tentatively.  
  
"No Liz. It's me."  
  
She struggled to open her eyes, feeling tears of relief forming beneath the lids at the familiar and beloved voice. "Max."  
  
Finally his worried face swam into view. His eyes narrowed slightly as she managed to meet his gaze.  
  
"What happened?" She whispered, reaching out and touching his cheek. "What's wrong?" It didn't strike her as odd immediately that they were lying side by side, nor that she couldn't for the life of her think how she had ended up in her own bedroom with Max.  
  
A flicker of emotion passed through his eyes. "You don't remember?"  
  
"If I remembered, I wouldn't have asked," Liz replied, wondered why he was being so cryptic.  
  
His relief was so abruptly obvious, she blinked. "Oh thank God." The next thing she knew, he had pulled her into his arms and his face was buried in her neck. A muffled "Thank you God" reached her ears.  
  
Liz allowed herself to enjoy the butterflies in her stomach for a moment, felt her strength increasing as she came more fully awake. Finally though, she pulled back slightly, smiled wryly at him. "Well hello to you too."  
  
"Hi." His eyes were melting with some emotion she didn't understand. Her heart began to pound more quickly as his gaze lowered to her lips.  
  
His kiss, when it came, was tentative. For Liz, it was too gentle. She wasn't sure why she felt impatient with it, but she did. Winding her fingers in his soft hair, she pulled him towards her, opening her mouth to him. He moaned, sending her blood speeding through her veins.  
  
She rolled onto her back, bringing him with her. He was kissing her frantically now, his hand stroking down her side, causing goose-bumps to rise along her skin. When he started to rain kisses down her neck, she giggled as the most inane thought suddenly occurred to her.  
  
Max pulled back, stared at her, his golden eyes completely befuddled. "What's so funny?"  
  
"My head-ache.It's gone."  
  
Max frowned slightly. "Headache? Oh God. Liz! I'm sorry." He pulled back further, taking his warmth with him. "I didn't even ask you if you were okay!"  
  
Liz smiled at him. "I'm perfectly fine. Or I am now, thanks to your magic touch." Liz picked up his hand, watched in fascination as a light glow permeated from where their fingers were wound together. "Just having you touch me.It makes me feel better."  
  
Max smiled slightly, bent his head and kissed her lightly on the forehead. She sighed, disappointed, when he sat up fully. "What happened Max? How did I get here?"  
  
"What's the last thing you remember?" He asked, running a hand through his hair, which was still messy from where her fingers had been moments before. Liz smirked. She couldn't help it. He looked adorable.  
  
"I remember Will giving me this." She raised her arm, blinked when she realized that the piece of cloth that she had wound around her wrist was no longer there. "What happened to it?"  
  
"You took it off," Max replied quietly. Liz could feel his intent gaze. "Liz, it [I]did[/I] something to you. You're sure you don't remember at all?"  
  
She frowned, searched her mind. "No," she finally said. She raised her gaze, met Max's. "What happened?" She whispered, her heart in her throat.  
  
"I don't know how to explain it." Max trailed off, sounding frustrated. "She tried to make me understand why it had happened, but I was so desperate to get that thing away from you, I didn't really listen too closely." He looked right at her. "Liz, you were not yourself. You [I]became[/I] someone entirely different."  
  
Liz stared at him, uncomprehending. There was only one person she could feasibly have become. "Rowena?" She finally whispered, unwilling - unable - to fully grasp that this, more than anything that had come before, proved that she was not of this Earth.  
  
She was surprised when Max shook his head. "No. She said her name was Serena. Apparently Rowena had a sister. From what little information she gave me, it seems that they were twins. The scarf belonged to Serena, but it affected you because of your similar DNA." He paused, took her hand in his again, stroking lightly. "Liz, there is absolutely no doubt now. You [I]are[/I] Rowena."  
  
Liz bit her lip, closed her eyes briefly. She didn't even know [I]what[/I] to think. She had pretty much accepted that Will was telling the truth before, but there were still so many unanswered questions. How had she ended up as Jeff and Nancy Parker's daughter? She knew for a certainty that she wasn't adopted. What on Earth had happened?  
  
And she had a sister! Somewhere out there, her twin sister existed and she had never even known. How was any of this possible?  
  
Serena. Liz shook her head in disbelief, Future Max's words about her "friend" Serena adapting the granolith for time travel.How could he have kept this from her? This was vital information.  
  
But, of course, they had obviously found Serena in that past life. Future Max would have assumed that this would be the case in this life too. Which meant that she was out there somewhere. She really did exist.  
  
"There's more Liz," Max said tentatively. She could hear the fear in his voice. She opened her eyes, wondered at it. His eyes were glued to her face, as though he fully intended to catch any reaction the instant she had it. "You were married to Will in your last life, but you never lived with him that way. Serena took your place. But Will doesn't know that. He always thought her to be you."  
  
Liz blinked. "Where was I?"  
  
Max smiled sheepishly. "Well, it turns out that."  
  
But Liz cut him off, already knew somehow. "I was with you," she finished quietly. She was in absolutely no way surprised. The conclusion that there had been something between Zan and Rowena had been too obvious to ignore, although she had not really thought about it in any great detail. Because it was so evident, there was nothing to really think about. She searched his face. "Why do you sound upset about that?"  
  
"[I]I'm[/I] not upset," Max replied. He stood, started pacing. "I'm thrilled about it."  
  
Liz smiled slightly as she watched him. She tilted her head. "You sound it," she told him wryly.  
  
Max paused, looked at her. "It's not [I]me[/I] I'm worried about," he said. "It's [I]you[/I]. Liz, this is all just crazy information. I don't even know how you're processing it. And none of it makes [I]any[/I] sense with what you've always known about yourself."  
  
She shrugged. "I don't really have much of a choice Max. It's what [I]is[/I]." She narrowed her eyes. "I'll admit that I was a little freaked at first." She remembered back to how she had screamed when it had finally dawned on her that Will was telling her the truth, that somehow she had always known it anyway. Liz breathed a small sigh of relief that Max had not witnessed that.  
  
"Liz, you were more than freaked."  
  
Liz started. "Huh? How did you know that." She instantly thought accusingly of Alex. She was going to [I]kill[/I] him!  
  
Max just looked at her, an eyebrow raised impatiently and the real truth dawned on her.  
  
"Oh, the flashes." Liz grimaced. "Well, you have to understand Max."  
  
"Liz, I [I]do[/I] understand," Max interrupted. "That's not the problem. The problem is how you're going to adjust to all this stuff. Because you are being [I]too[/I] calm right now. I don't like it."  
  
Liz clambered off the bed, went and stood near him. "Max, I don't even know what you're talking about." She reached up, traced a hand down his face until he was forced to meet her eyes. "What is this [I]really[/I] about?"  
  
She saw a vein convulse in his neck. He was quite obviously extremely upset about something. "Max?"  
  
"Liz, I can't help but remember how you felt when Tess first came to town," Max finally said, so quickly, Liz knew that he was just trying to get it out. "You were [I]scared[/I] Liz. In spite of all you knew about me and Michael and Isabel, you were scared. And I didn't know what to do to make you feel less scared. Because this is damn scary stuff and I hate that you even have to feel this way at all."  
  
She could feel her eyes widening as she listened to him. How did he even remember this? She [I]had[/I] been scared of Tess, but not because she was an alien, although it had seemed that way at the time. It was [I]Tess[/I] who scared her, because Liz had felt the threat inherent in the other girl, whether she was Nasedo or not. Reflecting on it now, it amazed her that she hadn't seen how her comments that day had affected Max though. Because Tess had ended up being one of them. And Liz had never made it truly clear that - to her - Max was not even different. He was just Max. If there was one person she would never fear, it was him.  
  
"You're afraid I won't be able to accept it?" Liz asked. "That I won't [I]want[/I] to accept it?"  
  
"That's not the only thing," Max sighed, his eyes drifting away again. "Liz, I feel like maybe you'll start to think that what's between us has nothing to do with [I]us[/I]. That it was inevitable, that we had no choice in the matter."  
  
"What?" Liz exclaimed. "Of course I wouldn't think that Max! I don't even [I]remember[/I] Rowena. You don't remember Zan." She brought her other hand up, made him look at her. "Max, whatever happens, it's [I]you[/I] I love. It doesn't matter who the hell I was before, or who [I]you[/I] were. We may never have even found this stuff out. I have a feeling in that other timeline we never knew any of this - or at least not until it was too late." Which had to be true if they had known Serena. She shook her head, forced herself to concentrate on Max. [I]He[/I] was what was important at the moment. "None of it really matters when it comes to you and me. Even if it did turn out that it was me who was married to Will, I still would have fallen in love with and I would still love you now. You're the one I want, no matter what."  
  
Max's eyes softened. He lowered his head until her arms were wrapped around his neck and their foreheads were touching. "How is it possible that I love you even more now than I did two minutes ago?" He demanded quietly. "I can't bear the thought of ever losing you Liz. It just freaks me out on a level I can't even express. If that makes me weak, then so be it."  
  
He kissed her. The flashes were almost instantaneous, making Liz's knees weak. She felt his love for her so clearly, it was humbling. She kissed him back, throwing her entire soul into it, determined that he would understand exactly how she felt about him, that Zan meant nothing to her. She didn't even know who Zan had been. It didn't matter. Even if he had been the monster that he seemed in all the reports they had so far, she was so far from caring, it was ridiculous. Zan and Max were not the same.  
  
It was in that instant that the flashes changed. Thoughts, [I]words[/I], raced through her mind, familiar, and, yet, she knew that she had never had or heard them before.  
  
[I] "I will come back for you. We [/I]will[I] be together. I swear it."  
  
"I will wait for you forever."[/I]  
  
Flashes of various symbols, some familiar, others not.She had [I]seen[/I] them before though. She absolutely knew it.  
  
And, suddenly, unbearable pain ripped through the connection, almost making her black out. [I]Zaaaaaaan![/I] It was so abrupt, she didn't have time to scream.  
  
It took her several long moments to even get her bearings.  
  
"Max," she gasped. She realized that somehow they had ended up back on her bed. He was panting against her neck. She could feel his skin burning against hers in a way she hadn't experienced since they had found the first orb in the desert months ago.  
  
"God, Liz," he finally managed to breathe, rolling off of her. She turned her head. He had an arm thrown over his eyes. "What the heck was that?"  
  
She reached out, traced a hand down his other bare arm, felt her eyes widen when a light glow followed the route her finger-tips were taking. "Max, look," she whispered, her awe so great, she felt tears welling.  
  
Max opened his eyes, watched her hand intently. When he raised his gaze to meet hers, it had darkened considerably again. It was only then that Liz realized that his chest was completely bare. Where the heck had his shirt gone? She looked around, was astounded to see it on the other side of the room. Liz looked down, saw that the top buttons of her shirt were undone. In fact, one of them was gone. A dull flush crept up her cheeks. This was so [I]not[/I] good. How had they so completely lost control of themselves?  
  
She looked back at Max, couldn't help the slight smile that wanted to break out across her face. She was a little upset, yes, but this was Max. It wasn't like it was unexpected. "Er, well.That was interesting."  
  
Max scowled, did not seem pleased by her choice of words. It made her want to giggle, in spite of everything. If there was one thing Max hated, it was losing control. And there was absolutely no other way of describing what had just happened. He was opening his mouth to respond, but she kissed him again, succeeding in shutting him up.  
  
This time there was nothing extraordinary about any of it. She felt it down to her toes as his hands twined in her hair, but there were no flashes. It was simply [I]them[/I] - Max and Liz. There was something reassuring in it.  
  
He finally broke the kiss, brought her down gently so that her cheek rested against his pounding heart. "What the heck was that?" He repeated quietly after they lay there in silence for several long moments.  
  
"I.I think it was from before," Liz admitted, tracing her hand down his arm again. No glow followed. She felt momentary disappointment. "For one minute, I remembered being her."  
  
"Me too." Max sighed. "God Liz.Whatever happened to them, it was horrible."  
  
"I know," she replied. She lifted her head so that her chin was resting on his chest, met his eyes. "It's not going to happen to us. I refuse to allow it Max."  
  
He traced a finger down her cheek, a slight smile on his face. "How are you so strong?"  
  
"You make me that way. No one is going to come between us ever again."  
  
There was another pause. Liz closed her eyes, enjoyed the feeling of his fingers dancing through her hair. She didn't understand how he could drive her to a frenzy one instant and then, in the next, make her feel so peaceful, it made her want to cry. Was it any wonder she loved him so much?  
  
The flashes started to return as she lay there, clearer now that she wasn't completely engrossed in him, wasn't completely distraught by the memory of the painful way Rowena and Zan had been torn apart. The symbols.where had she seen them before? Somehow she knew it was important.  
  
"Max, did you see." she started to ask but it was at that moment that a knock came at the door. They both jumped, the strange other world in which they had been existing abruptly ended. Michael's voice came through the door, sounding impatient. "Yo Maxwell, what's going on in there? It's been forever!"  
  
Max sat up, bringing Liz with him. "Oh my God! Isabel!" The expression of guilt that crossed his face made Liz's stomach drop. "What kind of ass am I?" He demanded. "Coming!" He called out to Michael.  
  
"What's wrong?" Liz asked. "What about Isabel?"  
  
"Nicholas kidnapped her," Max replied, sliding off the bed after planting one more firm kiss on her lips. She brought her hand up, touched her mouth, a slight frown on her face. A sense of familiarity ran through her at his action. The memory of it was just beyond her grasp.She almost groaned in frustration, forced herself to pay attention to what he was saying.  
  
"Oh my God! Poor Isabel!" Liz exclaimed, jumping off the bed when his words penetrated. "What on Earth are we doing here?"  
  
Max was pulling his shirt over his head. When his face reappeared, under his tousled dark hair, his expression was grim. "Will agreed to intervene. He and Kate said they had nothing to do with it."  
  
Liz frowned. "You don't sound convinced," she said, watching him carefully. She absolutely knew in her heart that Will had no idea of what Nicholas was capable. It seemed that Max was not so certain though. But if he had trusted Will in the first place.  
  
"Liz, he [I]gave[/I] you that cloth," Max told her. "He screwed with your mind. Whatever he might be doing right now, I can't trust that it has anything to do with saving my sister. And that's not the worst part. We let Alex go with them." He softened slightly as he seemed to become aware of the now troubled expression on her face. "We needed to make sure you were all right before we went in after them."  
  
"Why?" Liz asked, surprised.  
  
"We need you Liz. You're part of [I]our[/I] four square. Well, that's not the only reason," he amended. "I wouldn't have been able to think straight if I wasn't sure before we went."  
  
She blinked, ignoring the second part of this statement, being as it was not unexpected. No, it was the first part she couldn't quite grasp. "What? What about Tess? What about Will?"  
  
Max shrugged. "I have no idea. All I know is that we had a communication orb and you and I were the only ones able to make it work, even [I]after[/I] you thought you were Serena."  
  
Liz raised her hands, rubbed her temples. "God Max. Can this get any more confusing?"  
  
He reached out, grasped her elbow gently, pulling her towards him. "I have a feeling it's going to get worse before it gets better," he replied. She stared up at him. "But there is one thing that there is no confusion about, one thing that I won't ever forget again."  
  
She smiled slightly, already knowing where he was headed, but asking anyway, "And what's that?"  
  
"You and I are meant to be Liz Parker. No matter how many of our past life wives or husbands show up in the future, no matter how many times you try and convince me otherwise - and this includes pretending to sleep with ex- boyfriends," he added, running his hand lightly through her hair, sending a shiver down her spine, "Absolutely nothing is ever going to make me doubt you again." Max kissed her lightly, taking her by the hand. "C'mon. We have work to do."  
  
To be continued. 


	26. Chapter 26

[u]Part 26[/u]  
  
"Where are we going anyway?" Alex asked as he stared out the window and watched the desert scrub fly past. He swallowed and gripped the door when the car seemed to speed up, if that was possible. Will had been in a desperate hurry ever since they had left the motel. While Nicholas had not admitted to having Isabel in his control, he [I]had[/I] told Will where he could be found. Will had put the pedal to the metal from the moment they had been back in the newcomers' car.  
  
Not that Alex wasn't glad. He was. The sooner they got to Isabel, the sooner he could be assured that she was safe. But dying on the way to rescue her was not exactly what he had counted on doing. He was just glad that his voice hadn't squeaked when he asked because he was absolutely terrified.  
  
He was glad he had a reason to pretend that it was because of the driver, and not what awaited them at the end of the ride. Alex hadn't met Nicholas when everyone else had in Copper Summit, but he had heard enough about the little troll to make his skin crawl at the thought of seeing him in the flesh.  
  
Of course, if he really was a Skin, his flesh had to be pretty darn revolting by now, Alex thought inanely. Why he suspected Nicholas might [I]not[/I] be a Skin, Alex wasn't sure. But the more he thought about it, especially since his conversation with Kate, the more he was sure that once they figured out who Nicholas really was and why he was lying to his king, the more all of this would actually make sense.  
  
"Our birthplace," Will answered shortly.  
  
Alex blinked in surprise. "And that's near here?"  
  
"Of course," Will snapped. All Alex could see was the back of Will's head, but he could [I]hear[/I] the scowl he was wearing in his voice. The alien king had been in a foul mood for hours - since they had left the Crashdown actually. Having Nicholas lie to him had not improved matters. Alex knew that it wasn't what was [I]really[/I] bothering him though. It was still the fact that Liz and Max had made that orb work, the fact that Will and Liz had not been able to do it. Alex absolutely knew it was.  
  
"We were in the Crash," Kate reminded Alex quietly, turning her head to regard him, her blue eyes sad for a reason he didn't quite understand. "Our guardians hid our pods in the desert near Roswell after we were liberated from the base. We were born there a few years ago and then taken into hiding."  
  
Alex frowned. "I don't get it," he said. "How did the Skins find you if they weren't with you? And what happened to your first guardian anyway? He must have been a shapeshifter, right?"  
  
There was a long silence. Kate continued to stare at him, her expression pinched. Alex could see the tension that was increasing in the line of Will's back.  
  
"We don't know," Kate finally admitted softly. Alex abruptly understood why she was so sad. Everything they had ever known about themselves was turning out to be a lie. Nicholas had told them where to find him, but he had lied about having Isabel in his clutches. And he had apparently lied about everything else too.  
  
"Shut up Kate," Will ordered. "You've said just about enough."  
  
"Don't talk to me like that!" Kate shot back. "I have every right to say whatever I want. We don't even know anything anymore Will. Our only real chance is to work together. We'll get Vilandra back and then we'll sit down with Zan and the others and figure this all out."  
  
"We will do no such thing," Will bit out fiercely. "None of them can be trusted."  
  
"We can't trust [I]anyone[/I] anymore!" Kate wailed in frustration. "I've connected with Zan. I know he's not evil. He'll help us."  
  
"Just like he helped us last time?" Will demanded. Alex felt his blood run cold when the alien king swung the steering wheel hard to the right and off the highway. It took him a moment to realize that they were on a dirt road now, that the move had not just been random. His heart gradually stopped thudding like it was going to come out through his chest.  
  
"Something [I]happened[/I] last time. Something made Zan change. I can't believe I didn't understand that before, but it has to be true. No one can become so different without a reason," Kate argued, sounding calmer again. "It is more than clear that nothing we remember is right." There was a long pause. Alex could tell that she wasn't finished. He met Kate's eyes again. He saw her take a deep breath, realized that she had looked at him in order to help her to gather her strength. He felt momentarily dumbfounded but then smiled at her encouragingly, realized where she was headed. She was going to tell Will the truth about what they thought they knew. He didn't understand how this girl had so quickly become attached to him, why she trusted his judgment so implicitly, but he couldn't help but feel honoured.and not a little attached right back. He allowed himself to fall into her eyes for a moment. God, she really was beautiful.  
  
An instant flash of guilt ran through him. Here they were off to save Isabel and he was letting himself think about another girl. What kind of ass was he? Particularly considering that it was [I]his[/I] fault that Izzy was in danger in the first place.  
  
"Alex and I think that there was something going on between Zan and Rowena Will." Kate's rushed confession pulled Alex back to the situation at hand. He grimaced. Ouch. That had been a little harsh.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous," Will said dismissively. "He's using her now, confusing her for his own ends. I think I remember my own wife. She didn't even know Zan."  
  
"She did so," Kate reminded him. "The trade summit Will. On Valonia. They met then."  
  
Will snorted. "Barely. Ro left for her summer palace almost immediately after his delegation arrived. She was there merely to greet him for formality's sake. Her father was still alive and it was he who hosted the summit. She had no interest in the dispute between Knosis and Sardica. She chose not to attend, believing that her position as heiress to the throne of Valonia would only confuse matters. Ro wanted nothing to do with it, even as my wife."  
  
"Ro wanted nothing to do with [I]any[/I] of it Will," Kate reminded him gently. "Ever."  
  
"Which is why she left," Will replied triumphantly. "So when would she have met Zan? For long enough for anything to be going on between them I mean?"  
  
Alex was intrigued by Kate's last statement, couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean that Rowena wanted nothing to do with any of it?"  
  
Kate sighed. "Rowena loved her own planet," she explained carefully. "She became a great queen for Valonia. But she really had no interest in politics beyond her planet's atmosphere. The only time she ever made any sort of move to ally herself anywhere was when she married Khivar." She paused again. "And that was her father's idea."  
  
"She [I]loved[/I] me," Will interrupted, sounding annoyed. "You're right that she didn't really care about politics though," he conceded. "Our marriage was a love match. I just happened to be King of Sardica." He sounded slightly amused when he added, "Much to her chagrin. But she was willing enough to marry me once I agreed to live on Valonia. And once the war started, she stood firmly against Antar. It was why Zan had Valonia destroyed."  
  
Alex mulled this new information over for a few moments in silence. It was too bad that they couldn't be certain that any of this was true. Will sounded so [I]certain[/I]. But he just couldn't buy it. If this was true - if there was no connection between Zan and Rowena - then why were Max and Liz the only ones able to make that orb work? Why had Max fallen in love with her from the first moment he laid eyes on her ten years before?  
  
"I wonder why Max and all the others don't have any of their memories," Alex commented. "And why was Liz separated from you all? The other weird thing is that there was absolutely no indication that she was anything other than human until after Max healed her. What is that about anyway? I'm almost positive that if you were to ask Mr. and Mrs. Parker they would tell you that Mrs. Parker gave birth to her."  
  
"It is strange," Kate agreed. "Maybe the babies were switched? In the hospital I mean?"  
  
Alex frowned. "Maybe. But if that's true, then why did she come out of her pod as a baby? Isabel, Max and Michael were born as six year olds. We don't even know for sure when Tess was born. We just know that she was left behind."  
  
"Well, I know that we were older than that when we came out of our pods," Kate told him. "We were about ten. That's probably why we have more memories than Zan and the others."  
  
"That makes sense," Alex agreed. A thought crossed his mind. "You know, it would be really useful to know that for sure. We should also ask Tess how old she was when she was born. Because maybe she has memories she can access she doesn't know about if she it was longer than we think. We've all just assumed she was born pretty much right after the other three, but we don't know that for sure at all." Alex felt his suspicious nature regarding Tess rear its head again. He didn't trust her at all. Never had, never would - and he didn't think it was just for Liz's sake.  
  
He realized that now was not the time to think about Tess though. The car was pulling to a halt. Alex stared out the window. Dusk was just settling over the desert, but it was still light enough for him to realize that he recognized this place. "Oh my God," he gasped.  
  
Kate, who had already climbed out of the car, stared back at him in surprise. Will had disappeared into the mouth of the cave. "What's wrong?" She asked.  
  
"I've been here before," Alex said, his throat dry. "We're on the Mescalaro Reservation, aren't we?"  
  
"Yes," Kate acknowledged, frowning. "When were you here?"  
  
"Last winter," Alex explained, following her into the dark entrance of the cave. "Michael.well, he was hurt. We used some stones from their planet to heal him."  
  
"That's weird," Kate replied. She stopped walking, admitted, "We haven't been here in a long time. Our guardians used to bring us back sometimes, when we first came out of our pods, to read the markings on the walls."  
  
"You can read them?" Alex demanded, his heart thumping.  
  
"Sure," Kate shrugged. "Can't they?"  
  
"No. All we ever knew was that Nasedo wrote them."  
  
"That's why our people wanted us to read them. For hidden meanings. They thought the shapeshifters were trading information somehow, probably about where the other four were hidden. They got separated after the Crash of course, after they hid us here and the Royal Four wherever they were born." She paused, looked at him curiously. "Do they know where their pods are?"  
  
Alex narrowed his eyes. "No," he said non-commitally, his conscience hurting at the lie. "They don't remember." She seemed to accept this readily enough and he knew he was doing the right thing. Because even though he had never been there, he did know that it was where the granolith was located. It wasn't like he'd be able to take Kate or Will there, but he had already told them too much without the others' permission. It was his job to get information for his friends, but not to hand it out on their behalf.  
  
It didn't matter one bit that he felt like he could trust Kate, that he wanted to help her more with every passing minute. His loyalties were not with her. They couldn't be. Not until he was absolutely sure that she would not betray Isabel and the others.  
  
"It's all just a big jumble though," Kate continued, oblivious to his guilt. "Whatever they were trying to tell each other, we can't make it out. It's in Wendarian, but a form we've never seen before."  
  
"Hmmmmm," Alex replied, storing the information but deciding to change the subject. He hated even thinking about the pod chamber and the granolith. He was too scared he was going to leak something accidentally. The secret location of the granolith was the only bargaining tool Max still had if Will was unable to free Isabel. "I don't remember any pods in here," he said instead.  
  
"They were destroyed after our birth."  
  
Alex was frowning again though, something having just occurred to him. "Wait a minute! If you guys were only born a few years ago, Nasedo must have known where you were! He wrote those symbols over thirty years ago!"  
  
"Well he must have been the shapeshifter who hid us," Kate replied reasonably. "He didn't know where the Royal Four were. They would have been hidden by one of the others."  
  
"But why would he just let you all get taken by the Skins?" Alex demanded. "It doesn't make any sense. I mean, I'm getting the impression that you were all sent together in an attempt to resolve your differences here. Why did they split you up?"  
  
"I don't know anything," Kate admitted. "None of it makes any sense, does it? We don't even know for sure that it's why were sent together anyway. Maybe Nicholas will know."  
  
"Nicholas. Right. Like we can trust anything [I]he[/I] says." Alex felt his stomach clench. He peered into the gloom, could see the large cave where they had restored Michael's balance just ahead, obviously lit up. Was Isabel up there? It didn't seem likely that Nicholas would bring them to the place where he had his prize stashed, considering he had lied to Will about it.  
  
"They're arguing," Kate whispered. "Can you hear them?"  
  
"Yeah. We should go back Will up." It was the last thing he wanted to do, but if Nicholas was going to admit to Isabel's location, he needed to hear it.  
  
Alex followed Kate through into the cave proper, just in time to hear Will saying, ".saw the message Nicholas. I order you to tell me where you have taken Vilandra."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about highness," the prepubescent twerp was whining. "I have not seen Vilandra since Copper Summit. You have been tricked somehow. Perhaps it was a shapeshifter?"  
  
"Their Wendarian bodyguard is dead," Will snapped. "You had Venora kill him. Or have you forgotten already?" Alex assumed that "Venora" had been Congresswoman Whittaker.  
  
"There were other shapeshifters on that ship highness," Nicholas argued. "Perhaps one of them."  
  
"A shapeshifter with the ability to mindmeld?" Will asked coolly. "We saw it with our own eyes Nicholas. It was [I]you[/I]."  
  
"Highness, I swear it was not." Alex felt his blood run cold as the boy glanced past Will and right at him, seemingly aware of his presence for the first time. "A human? Why have you brought a human to this sacred place?" He snarled, his face abruptly going from cringing to threatening. "I knew that you should not have come here alone. You are all falling into their traps, aren't you?"  
  
"Whose traps?" Kate demanded. "We are perfectly safe Nicholas. Zan and the others.they are not the same. Why did you not tell us they don't have their memories?"  
  
Nicholas ignored her question though. "Where is Jack?" He shot back, his expression furious. Alex saw Kate flinch at that. "I thought so. So Vilandra is not the only one missing then?" He rounded on Will. "Why did you not tell me this before highness?"  
  
"We thought he was with you!" Will roared, making Alex jump. "He killed the Rath worshipper and then disappeared."  
  
"Well, this is just peachy." Nicholas started pacing. "We were just about to make up a perfect four square and now you've [I]lost[/I] Jack?"  
  
Alex watched Will run his hands through his hair in frustration. "It doesn't matter. Something is awry anyway. Rowena and I.we are not matched."  
  
"What?" Nicholas sounded flabbergasted. "What do you mean?"  
  
"The message orb.We could not make it work. Neither could Zan and Ava. Rowena and Zan were the ones who managed to make it play."  
  
"Well, that makes absolutely [I]no[/I] sense." Nicholas glared at Alex, as though it was somehow his fault. He took a step back despite himself. He felt a shiver run down his spine when Kate's hand came up and rested on the small of his back comfortingly.  
  
"He's really not that bad Alex," she whispered.  
  
He looked at her. "You don't think he's behind this anymore?"  
  
"Do you?" Kate asked. "He's either an excellent actor or he really is shocked by all of this."  
  
Alex hated to admit it, but he agreed. Nicholas seemed just as upset as any of them.  
  
".going to have to consult Khivar," Nicholas was saying. "He is [I]not[/I] going to be pleased."  
  
"I really don't care," Will replied firmly. "We must have the truth. Something is completely wrong with all of this."  
  
"[I]You[/I] don't care highness," Nicholas snapped sarcastically. "It's not your neck on the line." He shook his head, muttering. "I can't believe you lost Jack! And just when their four square has been weakened with Vilandra missing. It would have been the perfect opportunity to take them out."  
  
"But, if Rowena isn't matched to me anymore." Alex could hear the sadness in Will's voice. "What good would it have done anyway?"  
  
"Okay, I'm only beginning to get how weird this all is," Alex spoke up. "Why on Earth were both Jack and Isabel taken at the same time? It's like someone is trying to keep you all apart, like they don't want either side to get strong enough to defeat the other."  
  
"It is like that," Kate agreed. "But who? Who else is there?"  
  
"Why me of course."  
  
They all whipped their heads around and stared at the mouth of the cave. Alex felt his eyes widen in horror.  
  
He should have known. The instant that Max and Liz made that orb work, they really [I]all[/I] should have known. Because, in the end, there was no other explanation.  
  
It was Tess.  
  
"And since you're all getting a little too close to the truth," she continued, "You're all going to have to join Isabel and Jack." She pulled her hand out from behind her back, a throbbing orb sitting neatly on her palm. Tess smirked at him, tossed it in his direction. "Catch Alex."  
  
He did, just as it exploded, sending him plunging into darkness.  
  
To be continued. 


	27. Chapter 27

[u]Part 27[/u]  
  
"Where's Tess?" Max asked as he emerged into the Parker living room behind Liz. Maria and Michael were on the couch and Kyle was leaning against the far wall, his arms crossed, looking annoyed.  
  
"Are you telling me you really care?" Kyle demanded, the challenge in his voice more than obvious. He glanced almost disdainfully between Max and Liz.  
  
Max sighed. Wonderful. It seemed that he had somehow offended Tess again. He knew that he had been preoccupied with Liz over the past twenty-four hours, but he had thought that all of the destiny stuff had finally been resolved with Tess the night before. She had seemed okay earlier.  
  
"Oh Kyle, zip it," Maria exclaimed. "We don't have time for this crap and you know darn well that Tess isn't mad about anything. She went home to get something. She said she'd be back in a few minutes."  
  
Kyle had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, abruptly changed the subject. "So, are you Liz again?" He addressed this to Liz, who was still standing awkwardly in the doorway.  
  
There was a long pause as Michael, Maria and Kyle all stared at Liz. She blushed. "I'm pleased to report that Liz Parker is present and accounted for," she finally said, sounding a little sheepish. "I'm sorry about what happened. I've learned my lesson about alien artifacts the hard way."  
  
Michael stood, moved towards her and peered into her face. "And we know this for sure?" He glanced over his shoulder at Max, who could feel his blood beginning to boil. He didn't understand why everyone had to be so difficult all the time. It was just exhausting!  
  
"It's true Michael," Max snapped impatiently. "It's Liz. I know the difference."  
  
Maria pushed Michael aside and pulled Liz against her. "I'm so glad you're okay chica." Max could hear the emotion in Liz's best friend's voice. "I was so worried."  
  
Liz pulled back slightly. "You're not mad? Maria.I thought you were mad at me for keeping secrets!"  
  
"I've decided to forgive you this time," Maria replied. "If you promise never to do it again. Having you disappear on us for a while there.I guess I just decided that it wasn't worth the energy," she admitted. "I'm just glad you're okay. I am a little hurt that you didn't think you could trust me, but I'll get over it." Max could tell from her voice that Maria was simply trying to be brave though. She was obviously still extremely hurt that Liz had not turned to her in her time of need.  
  
"It wasn't that Maria," Liz insisted. "I couldn't tell [I]anyone[/I]."  
  
"You told Alex," Maria shot back. She looked down. "Sorry. I do forgive you Liz. And I know it was a really horrible experience for you. I guess we drifted further apart over the summer than I thought we had." She glanced over at Max. "But I do want you to know that just because Max and I are friends, it doesn't mean you can't trust me. You [I]do[/I] know that?"  
  
Liz smiled. "Of course I do Maria. And it really had nothing to do with your friendship with Max. I swear. I just knew that you wanted us together and I didn't want you giving me all the arguments I was already giving myself. The only reason I told Alex at all was because of the whole Will thing. I couldn't handle it all on my own anymore."  
  
"The point here is that you shouldn't have kept [I]any[/I] of it to yourself." Max looked at Michael suspiciously. The last thing Liz needed right now was Michael giving her grief. She'd had more than enough. Michael had his arms crossed, but he didn't seem accusatory, just matter-of- fact, so Max didn't interrupt him. "We needed the information that Future Max gave you Liz." Michael looked around. "We need to start depending on each other, trusting each other. It's the only way we're ever going to make this work. If we keep fighting amongst ourselves, we're[I]never[/I] going to be able to defeat our enemies."  
  
There was another long moment of silence, then Maria said, "Are we sure Michael wasn't kidnapped too?" She was smiling though. "If you're a shapeshifter, you're doing a pretty poor imitation of my space-boy."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Michael demanded.  
  
"Was that common sense or am I hearing things?" Maria teased. Max could hear the note of pride in her voice though. Michael obviously did too, because, although he rolled his eyes, he looked more embarrassed than anything.  
  
Max stepped in before they could truly start bickering. "Michael's right," he said firmly. "No more secrets between any of us." He looked around and met all of their eyes. "Even if it's bad new or we think it's going to be hard for some of us to hear, we share it. Are we agreed?"  
  
They all nodded or voiced their understanding.  
  
"Well then, in the spirit of this new pact, or sharing circle, or whatever you want to call it," Michael interjected. "I want to know what the hell is going on with Liz."  
  
"And you will," Max promised. "We'll explain it on the way. But we need to get going." He glanced at his watch. "Dammit! Why did Tess go home right now? We need her here."  
  
"I'll call her," Kyle volunteered. He moved towards the kitchen to use the phone there.  
  
"Where are we going Maxwell?" Michael demanded. "I thought we were waiting here until Will tried to bring Isabel back himself. Do we trust that guy, or don't we?"  
  
Max glanced at Liz, who was watching him carefully. "I don't know," Max admitted honestly. "Liz thinks we can."  
  
"I [I]know[/I] we can," Liz insisted. "I know the whole scarf thing is suspicious, but my instinct is telling me he's okay. I know he really does care about me and I have to believe that he had no idea what that thing would do to me. He's just as messed up as we are. He never knew about Serena at all, thought he was married to Rowena the whole time. He can't be blamed for that."  
  
"Okay, what?" Maria asked, looking increasingly perplexed and not a little freaked out. "We're working from a different book here Lizzie."  
  
"Serena and Rowena were sisters," Liz explained patiently. "We've figured out that, from what I told Max when I thought I was Serena, they changed places at some point. Rowena was the one betrothed to Khivar, but she didn't marry him. That was Serena."  
  
"And Will doesn't know this?" Maria sounded horrified. "That poor guy!" She paused, then asked the next most logical question. The one Max only wished they had an answer for. "But where [I]is[/I] Serena?"  
  
"She's on Earth," Liz replied. "We know that for sure. Future Max told me it was a Serena who fixed the granolith so that he could come back here."  
  
Maria stared at Liz, "You mean you have a sister out there somewhere?"  
  
"I do," Liz said quietly. "And we're going to find her."  
  
"Do you think maybe you should talk to your parents about this?" Michael suggested. "Even if just to find out exactly how you came to be with them?"  
  
Liz shook her head. Max watched her with concern. She looked sad. "I really don't think they have any idea Michael. They think I'm their daughter. I know they do." There was a slight hitch in her voice as she continued, "If I'm not, it means that something happened to their real child so that I could replace her. I can't.until I know what that was, I can't bring any of this up with them. It's a last resort. I'm sorry but it's just the way it has to be."  
  
Max moved towards Liz, put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "The Parkers are Liz's decision Michael. We don't have any right to get them involved unless she wants us too."  
  
"Hey!" Kyle called from the kitchen. "Where should I tell Tess to meet us?" He paused. "We [I]are[/I] going somewhere, are we not?"  
  
"Is that her?" Max asked, giving Liz a little squeeze in apology for changing the subject.  
  
"No," Kyle snapped. "It's Queen Elizabeth." When they all stared at him, he grimaced. "Sorry. Old habits die hard." He sighed. "It is Tess your highness."  
  
Max rolled his eyes. "Tell her to meet us at the pod chamber."  
  
Kyle's eyes widened, but he nodded. "Okay." He disappeared into the kitchen again.  
  
"What? Maxwell, are you crazy?" Michael demanded. "The Skins will follow us. The twerp said in his message that they were watching us."  
  
"That's what I'm counting on," Max replied grimly. "It's time to bring all the players together and the only bait we have is the granolith. I refuse to allow my sister to suffer a minute longer. The game ends here."  
  
"We're just going to hand it over to them?" Maria's voice was a little squeaky, her fear evident.  
  
"No," Max amended. "They don't know it's there and they won't unless there's no other choice. But I want it easily accessible if necessary." He looked down at Liz. "Can you call Alex's cell? Tell him to bring Will, Kate and Nicholas to the cliffs."  
  
"I still think this is a bad idea Max," Michael complained as Liz went to the kitchen to see if Kyle was off the extension. Maria followed her. "The granolith is our only ace in the hole. I don't like letting that little jerk get anywhere near it."  
  
"I don't either," Max admitted. "But I don't know what else to do Michael. We need to get Izzy back and we need to do it now."  
  
Michael glanced towards the kitchen, lowered his voice. "So you believe Liz? You trust Will? Be honest here Maxwell. She can't hear you."  
  
Max narrowed his eyes, thought about it for a moment. "I do Michael. Now I just need to figure out why. And until we're all together, there's no way I can do that."  
  
"You think that the Skins are purposely trying to keep the eight of us apart?" Michael asked, obviously following Max's train of thought.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Okay, then. But I still don't like it."  
  
"Thanks Michael. I appreciate you backing me up here," Max said. "I know it's not the most natural thing in the world for you," he added, grinning slightly.  
  
"It's becoming easier," Michael replied honestly. "Doesn't mean I won't keep riding your ass when I think you're not thinking something through. Although you pretty much do," he admitted grudgingly. "Unless it comes to Liz." He smirked.  
  
"I have a feeling that was true in both lifetimes," Max allowed. "We need to find out what happened Michael so that we don't repeat the same mistakes."  
  
"It's just too bad that Nasedo isn't still around to sort some of this out for us," Michael sighed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Life would be a hell of a lot easier, wouldn't it?"  
  
"Which is probably why he was killed in the first place," Max replied. "They don't [I]want[/I] us to know what really happened."  
  
"But who the heck are 'they'?" Michael demanded. "It has to be the Skins."  
  
He was cut off by Maria, who came rushing back into the room. "We can't reach Alex! His phone is ringing, but he's not picking up!"  
  
"Calm down Maria," Michael ordered, although he moved towards her and pulled her against him in comfort. "I'm sure he's fine. He probably just left his phone somewhere."  
  
Max felt a shiver run down his spine. His eyes met Liz's as she came from the kitchen behind Maria. She shook her head slightly, her fear obvious. "He told me he'd keep it on," Max said. "Something's happened."  
  
"Goddamit!" Michael exclaimed. "I [I]knew[/I] we couldn't trust that guy!"  
  
"It wasn't Will," Liz said firmly. "I tried his phone too. He didn't answer. Something has to have happened to all of them."  
  
Max ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Well, this sucks, but it doesn't change anything. We're still going to the pod chamber. We have even less choice now."  
  
Kyle spoke up. "Should I call my dad?"  
  
Max grimaced. He hated to bring the sheriff into it again, but with two of their number now missing, there didn't seem to be any other choice. "Do it," he instructed Kyle. "Ask him to put out an APB on Alex and Isabel, just in case they try and transport them somewhere. I'm betting that Nicholas will bring them with him if we take him to the granolith, but we can't be sure."  
  
"Max, if you do that, there's no way you can keep this from your parents," Liz reminded him quietly. "People are going to talk."  
  
"Damn!" Max exclaimed. "You're right!" He started to pace, his fear for his sister beginning to overtake him. He was having trouble thinking straight. "Call the sheriff anyway Kyle. He needs to know what's happening here. I don't want him at the pod chamber. Someone needs to stay behind in case something happens to us."  
  
"Oh God," Maria moaned, from where she was huddled against Michael. Max looked at her sharply. "I'm okay," she said, although she was shivering. "I just want them back. This is horrible!"  
  
"Maria, you don't have to come," Max reminded her gently. "It might be better if you didn't," he added, glancing at Michael, whose lips were pressed together. Max knew he was right to suggest this. Michael would be a whole heck of a lot easier to deal with if he wasn't worried about Maria. Max looked at Kyle too. "It will be safer. This isn't your fight you guys. And I can't guarantee your safety."  
  
"I'm coming," Maria said quickly. "Please. I can't bear to sit at home waiting. I know I don't have any powers or anything, but I [I]have[/I] to be there."  
  
"Me too," Kyle added. "They're our friends too." Max met his nemesis's eyes squarely. Kyle stared right back at him. "I owe you Evans. I'm not going to desert you now."  
  
"Besides Max," Liz said quietly, "They might just come after Kyle and Maria while we're gone. They know they're important to us. It's better if we all stick together."  
  
"Agreed," Michael stated. "I don't want to leave anyone behind anymore. We can't afford to lose anyone else."  
  
"We have to hurry Max," Kyle reminded him. "We don't want Tess to get there before us. She shouldn't be alone."  
  
Max sighed, giving up. "Fine. Let's go then."  
  
As he watched his friends file out through the kitchen, intending to use the back-door, he paused, swallowing hard. He realized he was scared. The fact that Alex, Will and Kate all seemed to have disappeared on them too.They were completely losing control of this situation. He intended to find out what the granolith was for before making any decisions, hoped that Plan A proceeded as planned. If he felt he could give it to the Skins, he would, but if he couldn't.  
  
Max knew that there was only one other way to insure that Nicholas released his sister. He didn't like it, but he would do it. He felt guilty that he hadn't told the others what he was planning, but this last secret was for their own good. First of all, they would refuse and second of all, he didn't have time to argue with them in order to convince them.  
  
Because the only way to save his sister if he couldn't hand over the granolith was to hand over himself. He would trade his life for hers. If there was no other way, he knew he would do it, and he also knew that the Skins would accept. And he had a feeling that it was entirely likely that it would come to that.  
  
"Max, what are you doing?" Liz's head poked through the doorway again. "Aren't you coming?"  
  
He took a deep breath, smiled at her reassuringly. "Yeah." He took the hand she held out to him and followed her out the door.  
  
To be continued. 


	28. Chapter 28

[u]Part 28[/u]  
  
It was his voice that brought her back. She heard it as though from a great distance, felt it was too much trouble to acknowledge it. All she wanted to do was sleep. She had never been more exhausted in her life.  
  
But, in the end, its desperation was more than she could ignore.  
  
"Kate! Open your eyes. C'mon, please?" Her body was shifting and then, "Oh dammit." She momentarily felt like she was falling, moaned when her head smashed against something hard. "Hell. I'm sorry. Are you okay? Will you please just wake up before I accidentally kill you?" Something was moving against her back. It took her another moment to understand that it was, in fact, [I]someone[/I].  
  
Alex. Twisting her hands slightly, she realized that she was brushing against body parts that did not belong to her. What.Oh. They were tied together, back to back. How on Earth had that happened?  
  
It was then that her thoughts managed to finally focus themselves. His face had been the last one she had seen before passing out during the explosion. He had been completely shocked, but also more than that. He had also been extremely pissed off when Tess had tossed that orb at him, shaking his head as though he was, in the end, not surprised at all.  
  
It was all Kate had had time to process before she had been knocked unconscious by the explosive device.  
  
She pried her eyes open, blinked a few times. It didn't help. It was still pitch black. She tried to speak, swallowed when it came out as a croak. Eventually, though, she was able to make sounds come out of her mouth that approximated words. "A.Alex?"  
  
She felt him breathe a sigh of relief against her back. "You're awake! Thank God!"  
  
"Where.where are we?"  
  
"I think we're in the back of a truck."  
  
She strained her eyes. Her cheek was pressed against the floor, which was coldly metallic. Well, that explained the falling sensation. She had obviously been slumped against Alex's back and he had somehow managed to knock them both over so that they were now lying on their sides, still attached together. "We're not moving," she said, stating the obvious, but still trying to collect her thoughts.  
  
"We stopped. They opened the door and took Will out and then shut us in again."  
  
"Who are they? Ava? Nicholas?"  
  
"No. Two guys I didn't recognize. But I heard Tess." His voice trailed off and then he muttered, "I can't believe that she betrayed us. I thought I hated her before. I was so wrong. I now literally understand the concept of seeing red."  
  
"Did they know you were awake?" Kate asked. "Was Will okay?"  
  
"He was still unconscious too," Alex replied. "I couldn't see much because the sun was shining in my eyes, but I think they knew I was awake. They came to check on you, basically ignored me. They don't want me." He paused, sounding a bit relieved. "I'm surprised they haven't just killed me."  
  
Kate felt a shudder run down her spine at the thought. "Don't say that!"  
  
"I'm just saying."Alex said. He paused. "Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."  
  
"It's okay."  
  
There was another long silence. She felt his fingers slide gently over hers where they were linked at the wrists. Her heart started to pound more quickly in her chest.  
  
Oh behave, she thought disdainfully to herself. This is so not the time. But Alex's thoughts seemed to be heading much in the same direction as hers because when he spoke again, his voice was low, gentle. "Are you okay? You were out of it for a long time. I think that was more of an alien smackdown weapon. It didn't seem to work very well on me. I woke up long before you."  
  
"Yes. Just a little dizzy," she admitted.  
  
He was still tentative when he continued, "Do you think you can use your powers on these ropes? We need to get out of here, need to warn everyone else."  
  
"Is that wise? We have no idea what's going on. The last thing we want to do is to bring Rowena and the others into something dangerous." She didn't know why, but she was feeling incredibly protective of all of them now. Her thoughts were focused on Will and Jack and what danger they might be in, but she was just as concerned about Vilandra, was just as worried about somehow causing Zan and the others to fall into their enemies' hands.  
  
She guessed that it was because it was now completely obvious that they did indeed have enemies in common. Whoever Tess was working with, she was obviously not on any side that Kate wanted a part of.  
  
Unless Zan had somehow planned this whole thing as a means to get Will into his power. The thought came unbidden, made her frown. Perhaps Vilandra's abduction had been a ruse all along, a way to make Rowena continue to trust Zan and to put Will off balance.  
  
But, as soon as she thought it, Kate rejected the idea. She trusted Zan. She had connected with him. He was as he had once been , as he was when she had loved him like a brother.  
  
"Well, whether we call them or not," Alex said, beginning to sound impatient, "Lying here doing nothing is pretty much the last thing we should do. Can you untie us or not?"  
  
She felt her stomach clench a bit at the tone of his voice. She wondered if he suspected the direction in which her thoughts had been traveling. Because, for some reason, he seemed really annoyed at her all of a sudden.  
  
"I can try," she replied quietly. "If they're just regular ropes, it shouldn't be a problem."  
  
She twisted her hand beneath his until her fingertips were brushing one of the cords around his wrist. Closing her eyes and ignoring the pounding that still continued in her head - God! What had that thing been that Ava had thrown at Alex? - she concentrated on manipulating the molecules. She nudged them apart with her mind, felt the twined cords beginning to melt beneath her touch.  
  
"Good job!" Alex exclaimed as he managed to struggle free. The next thing she knew, he was standing up, had turned her around so that she was facing him. For one moment, she truly felt like she was going to be sick. His shadowed form was swimming in front of her. She took deep breaths, trying to calm her stomach. She didn't really realize what she was doing as she lowered her head so that she was leaning against his chest.  
  
When she finally managed to steady herself, the first thing of which she became aware was his heart beating a swift tattoo against her cheek. Her breath caught in her throat. Kate glanced up at him, could not see his expression in the dark, but his breath was coming in short puffs.  
  
She hurriedly stepped back, grimaced slightly when her pounding head screeched in protest. Kate ran her hands across her eyes, sent a small healing pulse into her temples. She was not a skilled healer, but could do minor things, like curing headaches and the like.  
  
"Okay, I think you're right," Alex was saying, his speech very rushed for some reason. She blinked when she understood that he was nervous - and she didn't think it was because of the dire circumstances in which they now found themselves.  
  
She was probably just imagining things though. After all, the only reason he had come with she and Will at all was to save Isabel. It had been made more than clear to her that there was something beyond friends between Alex and Zan's sister. While Kate had never officially met Vilandra in this lifetime and, so, could not really make any sort of educated guess as to their relationship, nor had Alex said that they were a couple, his concern for her seemed to indicate otherwise.  
  
"Right about what?" Kate forced herself to ask, shaking her head, dismayed that she should be so concerned about this when she certainly had other things to worry about.  
  
"We need to case out the situation before we bring the others in on it," Alex said. Even in the darkness, she could see his shadow moving towards the door at the back of what she could now see was indeed a large truck of some sort.  
  
Just as he bent at the knees to slide up the back-door, she heard voices.  
  
"Alex!" Kate hissed, stumbling towards him and grabbing him by the elbow. "Someone's coming!"  
  
"Crap." She could feel his panic, did not blame him a bit because it matched her own. She was upset that she was proving to be so useless in a crisis. She had never experienced anything like this before. She had understood that she and her brother and her cousin were overprotected, but she had never realized how much until now. How on Earth had their guardians ever expected them to manage on their own? They knew nothing! Will had played at being in charge, but when it came right down to it, he had turned out to be just as useless and clueless as the rest of them, had ended up captured as well, likely by the very people that were supposed to be his allies.  
  
"What do we do?" She demanded, trying to modify her tone, taking deep breaths to calm herself.  
  
"Quick!" She felt warmth run up her arm as his fingers closed around hers. "Get down. We'll pretend we're still out."  
  
He pulled her to her knees, then pressed his back up against hers. His hands twined with hers, so that they would look like they were tied together.  
  
"But Alex, I thought they knew you were awake?" She whispered.  
  
"Shhhh! Just do it!"  
  
She snapped her gaze shut as the door Alex had been about to open slid up. She felt the bright sun on her face, was glad that she had her eyes closed. She would have been blinded anyway.  
  
She had absolutely no idea what time it was, but it was obviously still daylight, which had to be a good thing. They couldn't have been unconscious for very long, as it had already been late afternoon when they'd left the motel.  
  
Unless, of course, they had been out of it for a full twenty-four hours. Kate decided to ignore that possibility. For now, it was best to go on the assumption that they were still living the same day.  
  
".demand that you release us! Your quarrel with Zan has nothing to do with us!"  
  
Her brother's voice made her sit up straighter. Alex squeezed her fingers warningly.  
  
"That's what you think. You've always had your head stuck up your ass Khivar. This is just as much about you as it is about him." Kate didn't recognize the voice, which was male, but she felt Alex flinch against her back. She wondered if it meant that he did.  
  
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Zan of Antar and I have nothing in common." Will sounded outraged, but Kate heard the underlying fear in his voice. If there was one thing her brother hated it was feeling out of control and he quite obviously felt out of control now, although he was trying to hide it.  
  
Another voice, this one female, said, "Is this a good idea? Maybe we should transport them all separately. The last thing we need is for them to band against us."  
  
"That won't happen," the man replied. "We have Zan and Rowena exactly where we want them. One peep out of these brats and we destroy them." Two distinct thuds shook the truck as what Kate feared might be bodies were tossed into the truck. She strained her ears, could hear weak breathing from nearby. She reached out with her mind.  
  
And felt her blood run cold. Her thoughts had very briefly meshed with one of the other prisoners. The turmoil in the other person's thoughts was so complete, she forced herself to leave immediately. The last thing she needed was to get lost in someone else's head.  
  
She was brought back to what was going on around her when her brother spoke again. "If you touch Rowena, I will [I]kill[/I] you." Will's tone was perfectly steady. Kate felt a flash of pride. He had obviously mastered his fear and now he was quite simply furious. Of course it would take a threat to Rowena's life to achieve that, but it was better late then never.  
  
Kate felt the floor thud under her again as something heavy was thrown into the truck. She realized that it had been Will because he was quite obviously now only a few feet away from her. "I'm warning you, you bastards! If you touch her, I will kill." The door slammed shut, cutting off Will's threat. He finished it anyway. ".you. God dammit!" This last was a wail of such frustration, Kate shivered.  
  
She waited for the truck's engine to start up and for the vehicle to rumble into motion before she called out to her brother. "Will!" Kate opened her eyes again, tried to readjust to the dark.  
  
He was breathing unsteadily, his anger barely under control. She could feel it coming off him in waves, his usual self-control completely absent. He finally seemed to get a hold of himself though because when he said her name, his tone was steady. "Kate?"  
  
She moved away from Alex, crawling towards the sound of her brother's voice. "Just wait a second. I'll untie you. Alex and I were just about to get out of here when they came back."  
  
"Are you okay?" Will demanded as she reached over his body and started to untangle the ropes that bound his wrists together. She realized a moment later that it was far quicker to just melt them as she had Alex's bonds and proceeded to do so.  
  
"I'm fine," she replied. "What the heck is going on Will? Who [I]are[/I] these people?"  
  
"In a minute," Will said. He was already moving away from her and towards the two other dark shapes nearby. "Jack's here Katie and he's hurt. Really hurt."  
  
Kate's heart stood still. "What happened to him?" She whispered, her voice cracking slightly.  
  
"I have no idea. As far as I could tell in the short time I was alone with him, they did something to his mind." There was a pause, as though, for once, Will was actually weighing his words, was reflecting on how they might affect someone else. "Whatever it was, they did it to Vilandra too."  
  
There was a long silence. Kate almost felt this news hit Alex like a punch in the gut. His breath hitched slightly, but when he spoke, his voice was quietly calm. "Is.is she here?"  
  
"Yeah," Will said softly. "She's right here."  
  
She could hear Alex sliding towards them. "Is there any way to get some light in here?" He demanded impatiently.  
  
Kate frowned, realized that there was indeed. She wasn't really sure why she hadn't thought of it before, could only blame the fact that she had been pretty out of it since that device had knocked her unconscious. Again she wondered what it had been.  
  
She raised her hand, concentrated on stirring up the molecules above her palm, enough so that they sent off a dull glow.  
  
A thin blue light cast itself around the enclosed space. Her eyes cast themselves down to Jack's still face. She swallowed, brought the back of her other hand up against her mouth to muffle her sob. "He looks.Will, he looks [I]dead[/I]!"  
  
"He's not dead," Will said grimly. "They told me what they did to them. One of them wanted to do it to me too, but Ava said she wanted me fully aware of everything that was going to happen to Rowena, that they couldn't do it to me until Ro was with me."  
  
"What.what did they do?" Alex asked hesitantly. Kate looked over at him, where he was huddled over Isabel Evan's unconscious form. He had one of her hands in his, was stroking it lightly, his gaze glued to her face. Kate briefly closed her eyes, then shook her head, forcing herself to look away.  
  
If there had ever been any doubt left that it was ridiculous to continue allowing these silly feelings for the human boy, it had now been completely squashed. Which was all to the good. She had to worry about Jack now. Her cousin was all that mattered.  
  
"They removed their essences," Will told them. "I don't know exactly what they meant, but from what they were arguing about, it sounds like they took out the part that made them Vilandra and Jondar." He paused, then said in a rush. "Their [I]alien[/I] part."  
  
Kate knew that her eyes were as round as saucers, but she couldn't even grasp what this meant - or how it had been done. "But, why?" She whispered in horror.  
  
"To take away the claim they have to the thrones of Antar and Sardica. Vilandra is [I]still[/I] Zan's heir after all and Jondar is next in line for Sardica's after you Katie. But from what Ava was saying, they aren't really sure why they won't wake up. Their human sides were supposed to have been enough to keep them alive." He paused, then said, as though disbelieving. "I don't think they really want us dead at all. They want us to live on, as humans, knowing what we lost."  
  
"Who [I]are[/I] they?" Kate repeated her earlier question, totally incapable of understanding how anyone could hate [I]all[/I] of them so much. It simply made no sense. "Nicholas can't have anything to do with this!"  
  
"I know one of them," Alex stated, his tone grim and not entirely surprised if Kate was not mistaken. "His name is Grant Sorenson. Isabel has been dating him. I knew there was something wrong with that guy."  
  
"Well, you were right," Will said. "I'm not sure exactly who he is in terms of our system, but he's definitely alien. The only thing that makes any sense though, being that Ava seems to be leading them, is that it's a rogue faction of Knosians. I don't understand how that's possible though! They shouldn't even [I]be[/I] here. None of them were sent in the ship and they're supposed to be allied with Antar anyway."  
  
"But not if Max isn't married to Tess." This came from Alex, who had a slight frown of concentration on his face, as though this was now all a gigantic jigsaw puzzle he was determined to figure out. Kate had become used to that expression by now. He wore it almost every time they held a conversation and she told him something about what she remembered from her past. "Without that alliance, Tess's planet has no status at all, isn't that right?"  
  
"Pretty much," Will agreed. "Are you saying that Ava turned when it became clear that Zan was never going to honour their marriage?"  
  
"I didn't even think that it [I]was[/I] clear," Kate added. "Didn't you tell me that Max and Liz have been at odds for a couple of weeks?"  
  
"It all makes perfect sense," Alex sighed. "Future Max came back to make Liz drive Max to Tess to avoid any of this happening. What happened fourteen years in the future must have been because of Tess in the first place."  
  
"What?" Kate asked, totally confused by now.  
  
"Don't you get it?" Alex demanded, his anger clear. "It wasn't Khivar and the Sardicans who were supposed to attack Earth fourteen years from now. It was Ava and the Knosians. For revenge. To pay back Max and Liz for their marriage and for finding happiness together. But it all got screwed up. He only made it worse. Because, somehow, when Future Max came back, he linked Tess up with her own people way earlier. They must have been in Copper Summit. It's the only explanation. She met them there, something that never happened in that last lifetime."  
  
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Kate was trying to modify her breathing, but her burgeoning panic was making the process slightly difficult.  
  
"Wait a minute," Will interrupted. "Future Max? Have you two gone insane?"  
  
But both Alex and Kate ignored him. Her gaze was locked with his and she read the truth of it on his face. Alex snorted. "I guess he got what he wanted. He stopped the end of the world. It's not going to be necessary anymore." He trailed off, waited for Kate to finish his train of thought. Which she could, because she knew exactly where he was headed.  
  
The voice of one of their mysterious captors rang through her mind, only reinforcing Alex's fear.  
  
[I] We have Zan and Rowena exactly where we want them.[/I]  
  
"Because there won't be any Max or Liz to seek revenge on in fourteen years," Kate whispered. They'll already be long dead."  
  
To be continued. 


	29. Chapter 29

[u]Part 29[/u]  
  
Liz sat in the passenger seat of the Jeep, enjoying the sensation of the wind in her hair. She was surprisingly calm, considering it was entirely likely they were driving into a trap. But since she had woken up in her bed next to Max, all seemed right with her world. She felt extraordinarily upbeat, as though all the answers to their numerous questions were only just beyond their reach, but that she and Max, together, would find them.  
  
Of course, this new optimism didn't mean that she wasn't aware that he was keeping something from her.  
  
Since acknowledging that she was Rowena, since that flash of memory they had both experienced when they had been kissing on her bed and they had made each other glow, she was more in tune with everything about him. She was pretty sure he felt the same way. It was why he had known when to comfort her and when to let her stand alone during the conversation with Michael, Maria and Kyle in her living room. She was also almost positive that, unlike her, he wasn't yet consciously aware of the new intensity of their connection.  
  
If he was, he certainly wouldn't be lying to her. Liz was surprised to find that she wasn't angry at him for it. He was Max. He worried and he tried to take the world's problems onto his shoulders. It was just the way he was. If loving him and being with him meant that she had to remind him that he wasn't allowed to do it every once in a while, while it was a price she would gladly pay.  
  
She knew that she had to confront him before they got to the pod chamber though, which was why she had asked the others if she could ride with Max alone. Michael had seemed on the verge of protesting, his likely arguments that they were safer together valid, but when he had seen the determined line of Liz's mouth, he relented, pretending that he had always thought it was a good idea that they have two vehicles at their disposal. Liz and Maria had exchanged an amused glance, but no one commented. And, so, Michael, Kyle and Maria were bringing up the rear in the Jetta while Liz tried to figure out the way best to broach the subject with Max.  
  
She knew he was going to be a little freaked out that she was onto him. She was a little freaked out too if she was honest with herself. It wasn't like she could read his mind. She just felt what [I]he[/I] felt more clearly than she ever had before. And she had felt the resolve that had run through him when she had taken his hand to leave her parents' apartment and somehow she had understood what he was planning. It wasn't completely explicable yet, maybe never would be, but it just [I]was[/I].  
  
"You're awfully quiet," Max commented, his voice slightly raised to be heard over the breeze. He reached out, gently ran a hand down her hair. Liz shivered slightly, reveled in the feel of his fingers dancing through the strands. She wondered if she'd ever tire of the way he made her feel, tire of how every touch sent an electrical charge surging through her veins. She doubted it. It just seemed to become more intense with time. It couldn't all be attributed to their past lives either. She somehow knew that it also had a great deal to do with the fact that he was just Max and she adored him, had done so since long before she had ever even heard of his destiny. That hers was now officially entwined with his.well, it just made it better.  
  
Liz decided that since he had brought it up, she might as well just grab the bull by the horns, so to speak. She knew he was going to be stubborn about whatever it was he was planning, because she also knew that the only possible reason he could have for lying was that he was going to do something ridiculous in an attempt to keep the rest of them safe. She wondered how many more of them would have to be kidnapped before it dawned on him that they were all in this together, that it couldn't just be about him anymore. He had to accept that he hadn't [I]done[/I] any of this to them, hadn't put them in danger. They were all in danger anyway. He could not save them. He had to learn to let them save themselves.  
  
She knew Max and she knew that unless she got through to him about this, they were doomed to fail. In the end, wasn't this side of Max's character what Future Max's visit had been about? It had been his attempt to save them all, damning the consequences to himself. He really hadn't changed all that much at all, that future version of the boy she loved. He always tried to put everyone else first and, this time, Liz would not allow it. Because, in [I]her[/I] world, [I]he[/I] came first, which was why she had helped Future Max in the first place. It was all confusing and messed up and she and Max had to end it [I]now[/I]. They needed to be on the same page or they were going to end up exactly where that other Max and Liz had.  
  
Somehow she knew that things were not necessarily better in this time-line. The fact that Serena had existed in Future Max's world meant that the other Liz and Max must have known something about who they really were to each other. Which meant that just because they had found out about Serena and the occupants of the other pods didn't mean that they had changed things enough. They needed to work together to figure it all out, but first Max was going to have to accept that she was just as much a part of this as he was.  
  
Starting now.  
  
"I'm just wondering what excuse you gave yourself about why it's okay for [I]you[/I] to keep things from the rest of us, when you made all of us promise we wouldn't do that," Liz replied quietly. She tried to impress on him that she wasn't angry, just aware, and that she wanted to know the truth.  
  
There was a long silence. She turned her head and looked at him, could see that his face had gone white. She almost smiled. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she would have eventually seen through him anyway, with or without the new intensity of their bond. Once upon a time, Liz had found Max difficult to read, but since he had healed her, the mystery surrounding him had become easier to decipher. Since knowing that loving her was the centre of his universe, it really wasn't that hard to figure out what he was thinking in any given situation. It was why she had been able to affect him so negatively by pretending to sleep with Kyle and it was why she knew she was going to get her answers now.  
  
"I'm not mad," Liz finally told him. "I just wanted you to know that I'm aware of it."  
  
"Liz."  
  
"Max, just tell me," she sighed. "I swear I'm not mad."  
  
"Do you understand that I have to do whatever it takes to get Isabel back?" He asked, beginning to sound a bit upset. It reminded her of the time he blew up at her in the Crashdown when he had been worried that his mother was onto he and Isabel. He wasn't really angry, just frustrated and feeling helpless. She certainly understood it. It was one of the things they most had in common after all, that need to be in control. It was why she had screamed when she first realized that Will was telling her the truth about who she was. Because with that realization had come the knowledge that the one founding principle of her existence - that she was Liz Parker, human - had been torn away from her and along with it, her control over her own destiny.  
  
She was coming to terms with the fact that maybe destiny wasn't the worst thing in the world. If she got to be with Max, then, in fact, it was pretty damn great. But Max hadn't really accepted that yet. He still felt trapped by it, felt that he was, in fact, inflicting in on her as well. That she wouldn't have loved him if it wasn't for destiny.  
  
Liz knew that it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. She had loved him before she knew who Rowena was. For her, destiny was just a confirmation that they belonged together. It was the rubber stamp, not the contract. They got to [I]write[/I] the contract, got to decide what being Zan and Rowena meant for them.  
  
They [I]were[/I] in control. They were getting exactly what they wanted. The final answers about why would all be just a bonus.  
  
"I do," Liz replied now, sad that he truly still believed that he was less valuable than any of the rest of them. "Do [I]you[/I] understand that if I lose you again, I will lose myself?"  
  
"What?" His tone was slightly peevish, like she was being silly, as though she couldn't possibly love him as much as he loved her, as much as he loved the rest of them.  
  
She took a deep breath, trying not to let her growing irritation take over. "Do you think that you have the exclusive rights on wanting to protect the people you love Max? Because you don't."  
  
"Liz."  
  
"No, let me finish," Liz ordered. "You're planning to try and trade yourself for Isabel, aren't you?"  
  
"I never said."  
  
"Max, please. I'm not stupid and I [I]know[/I] you." Liz glared at him. His eyes were fixed on the road. He was obviously refusing to look at her, didn't want to see the truth of what she was saying to him written on her face. Because if he finally understood just how important he was, and not just because he was Zan, King of Antar, but because he was Max Evans, of planet Earth, well-loved in spite of himself, he would not be able to hate himself any longer.  
  
Finally, this was the crux of the matter. He had grown up not knowing who he was, scared of betrayal and what would happen to him if he were discovered. His worst nightmares had come true after he had healed her in the Crashdown. The sheriff had hunted him for months and, then, even worse, Agent Pierce had tortured him in the White Room, bringing all of his fears to vivid life. The only thing that had kept him sane through all of that was the fact that he was beginning to understand that she loved him. That someone, [I]anyone[/I], loved him. And, then, she had ripped that away from him as well, first by walking away from him at the pod chamber and then even more drastically only a few weeks ago because Future Max had asked her to.  
  
"You are going to have to accept that you are just as valuable to me as I am to you." Liz found that she was no longer angry at all, just sad, but also determined that he would finally get it. "I love you. You may think that because you've loved me longer, you win, that you have more right to protect me, but that's not fair. And it's not true. Because how was I ever given the chance to love you? You never let anyone in."  
  
"Liz."  
  
"I'm not done," Liz interrupted him again. "I also don't want you to start convincing yourself that I had no choice but to love you because of who we both are. Who the hell cares anyway? We could have been two worms in love in our past lives and it wouldn't make a shred of difference because the facts are the facts. I love you. It's the simplest thing in the world and it's the most complicated and, yeah, weird, there's a lot of past baggage, but even if the past baggage didn't exist, I would [I]still[/I] love you. Love is. You can't stop it, you can't control it and you can't decide who's love means more. That's all there is to it. And if you think you're giving yourself up, for Isabel, for me, for [I]anyone[/I], then you are really messed up in the head. Because I know for a fact that Isabel wouldn't want that. I saw her when you were in the White Room Max. You didn't. And no one else will let you do it either."  
  
"Are you done?" Max asked tentatively after Liz had stopped talking, finally having run out of steam.  
  
She thought about it for a moment. "I think so, yes," she said, folding her arms over her chest. She realized that she wasn't breathing altogether easily so she concentrated on taking even breaths.  
  
"Okay then," Max continued. "I.I don't quite know what to say to all of that."  
  
Liz looked at him sharply. She was momentarily convinced that he sounded amused, but the expression on his face was entirely serious. "Well, I don't care what you say. Just say [I]something[/I]."  
  
"I can only think of one thing," Max admitted. "I'm sorry, you're right and I love you too." His voice softened on the last bit, making Liz's heart beat faster.  
  
"That was three things," she told him, reaching out and taking the hand that wasn't on the steering wheel. "And you didn't say I'll never do it again. Nor did you deny that it was what you were planning."  
  
"I can't deny it," Max sighed. "And I [I]am[/I]sorry. I guess. I guess when I think of the people I love suffering, any physical torture that might be inflicted on me seems a lot easier than the way it feels knowing that it's happening to anyone else. I know it's not fair and it's actually kind of selfish. I never thought of it that way before, but you're right. I was thinking of myself and what would make [I]me[/I] feel better."  
  
"And it does you credit Max," Liz insisted. "I can't blame you for loving us and wanting to protect us. But I [I]can[/I] blame you for not understanding that protecting yourself [I]for[/I] us has to be just as big a priority."  
  
"Says the person who went marching into the enemy's camp determined to spy for us." Max was now certainly amused, but Liz wasn't annoyed this time. "Which I still can't believe I let you do by the way."  
  
"You had no choice Max, first of all," Liz retorted. "Second of all, it proves that you [I]can[/I] be reasonable and can understand that sometimes you have to let other people do things. And third of all, they [I]weren't[/I] our enemies. They [I]aren't[/I]. And you knew it even then."  
  
"I guess I did." She looked at him. He had turned his head, was smiling at her. The loving way he did it sent another shiver through her. "I am sorry," he repeated. "I promise to try not to do it again."  
  
Liz frowned. "Try?"  
  
"If I promised more than that, I'd be lying," Max admitted sheepishly. "Sometimes I do it without thinking. Like when I healed you. I can't change who I am Liz. I can try and make it so that I think a little before I act, but I can't totally change."  
  
She stared at him, then smiled too. "I know." She removed her seat-belt, climbed closer to him and kissed him on the cheek. "And I wouldn't want you to change completely. But we are agreed though? You're not going to try and trade yourself?"  
  
"We're agreed," Max replied. Liz settled back in her seat, continued looking at him though, trying to detect a glimmer of regret or deceit on his face. She saw none.  
  
"Good. So what's the new plan then?"  
  
Max shrugged, sighing. "I wish I could say that I had a better one then to wait for them to find us, but I don't. I won't really hand over the granolith until I totally understand what it is."  
  
"Didn't you tell Michael you would?" Liz asked, a bit confused.  
  
Max glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, one eyebrow raised. "How did you know that?"  
  
"Well, I might have overheard you," Liz replied, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Kyle was still on the phone! I can't help it if you were talking loudly." She exclaimed, although she knew it wasn't really a justification for eavesdropping. Nor had they been speaking particularly loudly if she was honest with herself.  
  
"I did tell him that," Max said, not sounding angry, only amused again. "But I just really don't think we can give it up without knowing what it is. I mean, what if it's some kind of super weapon or something? It sort of looks like that. I really just have no clue."  
  
"I hate not having a real plan," Liz told him after a few moments of silence as she mulled this over. "Don't get me wrong. I think you're right that they - whoever [I]they[/I] are - can't have the granolith. But what's to stop them from just killing us all when they understand we're not going to give it to them?"  
  
"They don't know where it is," Max reminded her. "They need at least one of us alive to tell them. And they have to know that if they really hurt any of us, the others won't ever tell them." There was a pause. Liz could almost hear the wheels turning in his head. "I just feel that this is about more than the granolith anyway."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"The fact that we were separated from Will and the others," Max said pensively. "Whoever said it.I can't remember who it was, but I think they were right. We were all sent in that ship together. Whatever our past relationships, we were meant to work together this time. But someone has taken great pains to make sure that doesn't happen. They've been fed lies about us, or at least lies about what we're like this time around."  
  
"Max, you don't still think that Zan was evil?" Liz demanded, understanding immediately why he had modified his last statement.  
  
"I.I don't know," he replied. "I don't [I]think[/I] so. I mean, if we're right and Zan and Rowena were together, I can't see that he was totally bad.  
  
"He couldn't have started that way," Liz reminded him. "Didn't you get from Kate in that connection that he changed?"  
  
"Yeah. I just don't know!" The last was practically a wail of frustration. "God. I wish that there was someone around who had [I]been[/I] there, someone impartial like Courtney who could at least give us [I]their[/I] version of the truth."  
  
"Why do you think Nasedo kept all the information about who we really are from us?" Liz asked him, having reached out to squeeze his hand reassuringly again. His thumb was running lightly over her palm, distracting her slightly, but obviously serving to calm him down.  
  
"I really don't think he knew who you were," Max told her. "He didn't really have much time to tell us anything before he died either. He was in Washington taking care of disbanding the Special Unit for all those months and, then, he was killed so quickly after coming back to Roswell. I also think he wanted us to remember on our own."  
  
"Which means that you [I]can[/I] remember." Liz frowned thoughtfully. "But [I]how[/I]?"  
  
"I've been thinking about that," Max replied. "I think we need to find our talismans. Like Serena's scarf. We all must have one. Serena told me that if you were really her, you wouldn't forget being her when the scarf was removed."  
  
"But I did because I'm [I]not[/I] Serena," Liz picked up his train of thought. "I'm Rowena. So you think that maybe we need our talismans to activate our memories, but then after that we won't."  
  
"Maybe," Max said. "The problem is that, I don't want to be taken over by any talisman. Until we can be sure that we won't be possessed like you were, that we won't forget who we are now, we can't use them."  
  
Liz sighed. "I guess it never crossed the minds of the people cloning us that we would [I]want[/I] to remember who we are now."  
  
"Probably not. But we can't know that for sure either. Don't forget that Will and Kate have more memories than we do. Didn't you tell me that Will told you that they came out of their pods when they were about ten?"  
  
"Yes. So you think that if you'd all been in your pods longer, you might have more natural memories."  
  
"Right." Max shook his head slightly. "It's all just speculation though. I don't know that we'll ever really know anything. And at this point it doesn't really matter either. All I care about right now is making sure that Izzy and Alex are okay."  
  
"And Will and Kate," Liz said firmly. "Max, they're part of this now too."  
  
"I know." She saw Max quirk a grin in her direction. "Kate anyway."  
  
"Max!"  
  
"What? I'm just being honest!"  
  
Liz stared at him. He was still smiling, as though he was teasing her, but Liz could see his underlying concern. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about where Will is concerned," she reassured him gently. "Max, I might have been drawn to him, but I [I]never[/I], not for an instant, stopped thinking about you when it was happening. My main concern through the whole thing was how it was going to hurt you."  
  
"It's not [I]you[/I] I'm worried about Liz," Max replied firmly. "It's [I]him[/I]. He really believes that you and he are meant to be together. If we don't find Serena, if we don't find a way for her to tell him the truth without him freaking out.well, it could still get ugly. He may [I]not[/I] believe her."  
  
"Then we'll just have to make sure he does."  
  
Max grinned at her. "Liz, you don't get it, do you? No guy in their right mind would ever give up a chance to be with you without a fight. Didn't I prove that clearly enough earlier this fall? I sang under your balcony for God's sake." Liz smiled slightly to herself at the memory. It warmed her heart even more that the tips of his ears were turning red at the though. It had been difficult for Max to serenade her, it practically going against everything that made him [I]Max[/I], but he had done it anyway. For her. "He is [I]not[/I] going to be easy to convince," Max was saying, obviously trying to get off the topic entirely.  
  
"Be that as it may," Liz said. "It can't matter right now. We have to make sure that he's alive to [I]be[/I] convinced." She turned her face forward, felt her heart beginning to beat more quickly. They had reached the point in the high-way where they turned off to head for the pod chamber. "I hope this works Max."  
  
"Me too." He squeezed her hand again, bringing it to his lips and kissing it.  
  
They didn't say anything else until the cliffs came into sight, just enjoying the last few moments alone in safety.  
  
"Tess is here." Liz spoke into the silence after recognizing Tess's SUV parked near the rocks. She lowered her eyes, sighing, then grimaced, hoped Max hadn't heard.  
  
Really, it was only a natural instinct. She realized that, for once, thinking of the blonde girl hadn't either made her sad or set her blood boiling. She knew that Tess had not necessarily given up her claim to Max, but also knew that her rival had promised not to leave town. What the meant in the long-run, Liz wasn't sure, but what it did mean now was that Tess was on their side and it was important to make sure she was safe too. Keeping her in Roswell would serve little purpose if they let her get killed instead.  
  
"Shit."  
  
The word was so sudden and so unlike Max, Liz's head snapped up and she stared at him. They were pulling to a stop beside Tess's vehicle. She glanced behind them, saw the Jetta only a few moments behind. "What?" She looked around, couldn't see anything amiss.  
  
"They beat us here." Max's tone was grim as he swung out of the Jeep and hurried towards Tess's car. Liz still couldn't see anything wrong. It was only when he started to move past it that she noticed the small foot peeking out from in front of the SUV.  
  
Liz's blood ran cold, knowing that it could only be one person.  
  
Tess.  
  
To be continued. 


	30. Chapter 30

[u]Part 30[/u]  
  
"I think we're slowing down," Alex said into the silence that had fallen over the truck in which he, Will, Kate and the unconscious Isabel and Jack were being transported. It was pitch black again, Will having let the blue light from his hand die after they had understood that they weren't really going to be able to do anything for Isabel or Jack until they knew exactly what had been done to them.  
  
This didn't mean that they hadn't managed to come up with a very weak plan. Alex knew instinctively that the friends he had left behind at the Crashdown were no longer there. He and the two new aliens had been gone for too long. There was no way that Max and Michael had managed to stay where they were for this long. They were both likely going insane with worry over Isabel by now. Which was also what Alex knew their enemies wanted.  
  
[I]We have Zan and Rowena exactly where we want them.[/I]  
  
Well, wherever [I]that[/I] was, the goal of the trio in the truck was to get Max and Liz as far away from there as quickly as possible.  
  
They had to somehow get word to Max and Liz that they were in mortal danger and there was only one person who could do it. Kate, with her teleporting gift, was their only hope of getting to Alex's friends and keeping them away from wherever it was they were headed.  
  
Unfortunately, Alex had learned when he had come up with the plan, Kate couldn't safely teleport from a moving vehicle. It was too risky. Any abrupt stop or jolt while she was focused on her "leap," as she called the process, could throw her concentration totally out of whack, in turn jeopardizing her life.  
  
"She might lose control of her molecules," Will had explained. "And if that happens."  
  
Alex grimaced. "Let me guess. Losing molecules means losing Kate."  
  
"Basically," Will agreed.  
  
"I can try," Kate argued. "It [I]is[/I] possible."  
  
"No," Alex said firmly. "I." He had paused, blinked, then modified that. "[I]We[/I] can't risk you. It's better to wait and have it done safely then to screw up the only chance we have."  
  
He could still feel the heat that had risen into his cheeks at his slip of the tongue, one that he didn't quite understand. Here he was sitting with Isabel Evans's head in his lap, his concern for his friend deep, but his worry for a girl he had only known for two days felt infinitely more real and immediate.  
  
What the heck was happening to him?  
  
Even now his stomach was twisted in knots at the thought that something might happen to Kate while she was gone. He much preferred having her right in front of him so that he knew she was safe. He couldn't even begin to analyze why this was so important to him. All he knew was that it was.  
  
"I'm ready," she said now, her voice soft.  
  
"Don't do anything stupid Katie," Will ordered. "I mean it." He sounded gruff, but Alex could hear the underlying fear and frustration in the young king's tone. He absolutely hated sending his sister out there alone. Alex didn't blame him one bit. Look where splitting up had gotten Jack and Isabel.  
  
An image of Kate lying as lifeless as Isabel popped into his brain, sending a shiver down his spine. He immediately thrust it aside.  
  
"Yes sir," Kate replied sarcastically. Even though he couldn't see her face in the darkness, Alex could tell from her voice that she was frightened. She had no idea where she was going. She could be teleporting herself right into the middle of an even bigger mess. They were relatively safe in the back of this truck after all. At least for the moment.  
  
Alex heard movement close to him, realized that Kate was inching past him towards a more open part of the truck. She was stumbling slightly with the motion of the vehicle, which was still moving at a fairly rapid clip over much bumpier terrain. They were quite obviously nearing their destination though. It was almost time.  
  
He felt her shoulder brush his, reached out abruptly, almost against his will and stopped her.  
  
"What?" She asked, after a long moment of silence.  
  
His voice seemed stuck in his throat, but he finally cleared it and managed to stutter, "Be careful." He grimaced, shaking his head in annoyance.  
  
"I will," she whispered. She fell against him slightly as the truck finally ground to a halt. He felt the brush of her soft curls against his neck and then nothing.  
  
She was gone, as though she had never existed at all.  
  
And just in time too. Because an instant later the back doors to the truck were wrenched open. Alex squinted, his eyes expecting to be blinded by the late afternoon sunlight. He gradually opened them wide again when he realized it wasn't going to happen. A very dull glow entered the truck, but nothing major.  
  
"Grant, nice to see you out and about buddy," Alex said, more annoyed than scared at the sight of Grant Sorenson climbing into the back of the truck. He looked over at Will. "I so knew this guy was bad news from the first moment I laid eyes on him."  
  
Grant merely smirked, setting Alex's blood to a boil. "Can't help it if Isabel digs older men kid."  
  
"Right. That alien mojo must make you really attractive to all the chicks." Alex knew he was being ridiculous but it was much better to be pissed off than scared. Of course, with Kate gone and Isabel unconscious, there really wasn't anyone around to impress. Like he cared what Will thought.  
  
[I]Admit it Whitman,[/I] the annoying voice in the back of his mind taunted. [I]You're petrified.[/I]  
  
[I]Smart people get scared,[/I] Alex retorted. [I]Smart people know when they are about to die horrible, alien-related deaths, perhaps involving probes and other instruments I'd rather not reflect too long about.[/I]  
  
"Where's your sister?" Grant was saying to Will as Alex shook his head, ridding it of his split personality for the moment.  
  
"Gone," Will snapped.  
  
"Gone?" Another voice demanded.  
  
Alex turned his head, did a double-take, then stared. "Oh crap." [I]Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.[/I]  
  
"Who are you?" Will asked. "And what the hell do you want with us?"  
  
The person Alex knew he could not be seeing ignored Kate's brother though, throwing Grant aside like a rag doll. "What kind of idiot are you?" He roared. "You let her wake up? She's a teleporter. She's gone straight to Zan and she knows about Tess."  
  
"She was unconscious when I threw them all in here," Grant whined from where he lay on the floor. "And no one told me she could do that. How was I supposed to know?"  
  
"I am going insane. Clearly, I [I]am[/I] insane," Alex muttered to himself.  
  
"What's wrong?" Will asked.  
  
"Don't you know who that is?" Alex demanded. "Well, of course you don't. Because you've never seen him. That's [I]Nasedo[/I]. He also goes by Ed Harding - at least in this form."  
  
"I thought Nasedo was dead," Will replied, his voice slightly raised. "I thought their guardian was [I]dead![/I]"  
  
"Apparently not," Alex retorted. "Because that's him. Which, of course, only makes sense because Tess is a traitorous little backstabber." He sighed, glanced at Nasedo, who had stopped yelling at Grant and was eyeing Alex in a way that was making him entirely uncomfortable. "Hi Mr. Harding," he said weakly. He didn't quite know what else to say. And, well, his mother had always told him that, when in doubt, be polite.  
  
"Why is this human still alive?" Nasedo demanded.  
  
"No one told me to kill him. I follow orders, but I'm not a murderer. If you want him dead, you have to tell me these things," Grant replied peevishly, getting up and moving towards Alex. Alex stared at him as he advanced, wondered why his body wasn't moving in the opposite direction. Of course, the fact that Isabel's head was still in his lap might have been one reason. The other being that all pretense of not being scared out of his mind was now completely gone. He was frozen with fear. Great.  
  
"Leave him alone." Will was now on his feet, had moved between Grant and Alex. "I don't know who the hell you think you are and what the hell you think you're doing, but he has nothing to do with any of this. Let him go."  
  
"Not possible your highness," Nasedo said firmly. "We will not be leaving any remnants of our little Earthly adventure behind and that includes any humans you've come into contact with."  
  
"You say that as though our time here will soon be over," Will said.  
  
"In a manner of speaking," Nasedo told him. "You'll be dead and we'll be gone. It will be as though none of us were ever even here. These idiot humans can't handle the truth, so we'll let them continue to exist in their little fantasy of being alone in the universe by ridding this planet of all evidence to the contrary." He turned his fathomless gaze on Alex again. "Including witnesses."  
  
[/I]Ack! Say something! Say anything to make this psycho realize that keeping you alive it in his best interests.[/I]  
  
For a long moment, his mind was a complete blank. And, then, Alex was surprised to hear himself say, "So you've decided not to destroy my entire planet this time then." Nasedo looked at him again, one eyebrow raised. "Thanks for that," he finished lamely. [I]Shut up[/I]! The little voice said. [I]Just shut up and pretend you're not here. Talking was a bad plan.[/I]  
  
Nasedo's gaze was narrowing though. He seemed interested. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Oh just the fact that in some alternate timeline a bunch of aliens destroyed the Earth fourteen years from now," Alex replied. "But carry on. Forget I said anything."  
  
He grimaced as Nasedo continued to stare at him, his expression unreadable. "Who told you this?"  
  
"What do you care?" Alex snapped. "If you're leaving, it's not going to happen, so what does it matter?"  
  
"I want to hear this story," Nasedo responded firmly. He looked at Grant. "He can live. For now. Get them all out of here." With that, the shapeshifter turned on his heel and left the vehicle.  
  
Alex heaved a sigh of relief, having no idea how he had just managed to preserve his sorry hide for at least a little while longer, but pleased nonetheless.  
  
Now all he and Will had to do was figure out exactly what was going on here and how to make sure their friends didn't fall into the trap Nasedo was obviously setting for them.  
  
Sure, no problem that.  
  
He flinched as Grant came near and picked Isabel up carefully. Alex considered ordering him not to touch her, but changed his mind when he got a look at the so-called archeologist's face. Forbidding was the only way to describe it. "Come," Grant ordered. He looked over at Will. "Bring your cousin."  
  
Alex got up, jumped down from the truck and helped Will maneuver Jack out of the transport. They both took one of his arms over their shoulders and dragged him after Grant.  
  
He managed to glance around as they struggled to carry Jack's dead-weight. They were in some sort of huge cavern, big enough for the truck in which they had been transported to have been driven right in.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Alex stage-whispered to Will after they let Grant get a little ahead.  
  
"Play along for now," Will replied. "And, then, when we get the chance, we kill them. There are only two of them."  
  
As the words left the young king's mouth, he and Alex rounded a corner after Grant and both came to an abrupt halt. "You were saying?" Alex muttered, sighing as they came face to face with at least ten more men and women. They were all staring at them, various degrees of menace in their expressions.  
  
This was bad. And it was getting worse by the minute. The only hope left was that Kate had gotten to Max and Liz and had managed to convince them to stay way. Because it was very clear by now that the entire goal of this operation was to bring all eight hybrids together. Ironic that, when up until now it had seemed that the whole purpose of everything that had gone on had been to drive them apart.  
  
How did Alex know that the plan had changed? Well, it was very simple really. The eight glowing cages looming behind the pack of enemy aliens told him so. He watched in dismay as Grant dumped Isabel in one, stepping out and fiddling with some controls on the door. The fake archeologist came towards he and Will, grabbed Jack's body and tossed it into the one beside Isabel's, repeating the same process.  
  
"This can't be good," Alex muttered to Will. "Nope. Not good at all."  
  
Alex winced when he realized that someone was standing behind him. Turning his head, he met Nasedo's cold eyes. "Come Mr. Whitman. It's time for you and I to have a little chat about this alternate timeline to which you referred."  
  
Alex exchanged a glance with Will, who shrugged. "Do what you want to do."  
  
"What happens if I refuse," Alex asked Nasedo, although he was pretty sure he already knew.  
  
"You die," Nasedo replied sternly.  
  
"Hmmm, decisions, decisions" Alex muttered. Nasedo was already walking away, obviously knowing what his answer would be. He was forced to break into a light job to catch-up.  
  
*******************************************  
  
"Tess! Tess, wake up."  
  
Max propped the small blonde up against his arm, shaking her slightly.  
  
At first he had thought she was dead. He felt the flash of fear that had run through Liz and knew that she thought exactly the same thing. They had both jumped into action at the same time when Tess moaned lightly, falling to their knees beside her.  
  
After doing a cursory exam, Max was unable to uncover any physical reason for why Tess was unconscious, no visible signs for him to heal so that she would open her eyes. So now he was just trying to wake her up.  
  
"What happened?" Michael demanded, coming up behind Liz. Maria and Kyle were on his heels.  
  
"Oh hell," Kyle muttered, hurrying forward and dropping down beside Liz. "Tess!"  
  
"I don't know," Max snapped, his frustration at their complete lack of control of this situation getting the better of him and making him sound more angry then he meant to. He raised his head, looked around at his assembled friends. "We need to get into the pod chamber. Whoever did this. They'll be back and likely sooner rather than later."  
  
Max got to his feet, carefully balancing Tess in his arms.  
  
"I thought they were supposed to be following [I]us[/I] Maxwell," Michael complained, striding along at Max's elbow. "How the hell did they beat us here?"  
  
"I have no idea," Max ground out. "They're obviously playing games with us. They're trying to throw us off balance. We can't let them. We keep the original plan."  
  
"To just wait for them to show themselves?" Michael asked, sounding incredulous. "I don't think."  
  
"There's nothing else we can do," Max interrupted firmly. Because he was standing on the bottom of the slope that led up to the pod chamber, he was looking down on the other four, who were all staring up at him, various degrees of anger and fear reflected on their faces.  
  
He met Liz's eyes. She gazed steadily back at him, her will to be with him through anything making him decide that it was time to give it to them all straight. "We have to take a stand. I'm tired of looking over my shoulder all the time. I, for one, am ready to die here today, rather than have to keep living like that. I was going to give myself up to make sure that none of you had to do that anymore, but Liz made me see that's it not my right to make that decision for you. It's going to be bad. I know it is and we may not come out of this alive. But it's just time to take back our lives, time to find out exactly who we are and what our role is on our home planet and what it means for us on this one. If there's anyone here who isn't in agreement, then you're free to go."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere," Liz said quietly, not unexpectedly. But Max nodded anyway, accepting her right to say it. It still wasn't easy for him to think of her potentially dying, but this was her fight now too. And, in the end, he'd rather have her by his side, where he could protect her as much as possible anyway.  
  
There was a long silence, then Michael said, "Well, I guess I'd be a fool to back out now. I'm the one who always wanted the answers, aren't I?"  
  
Maria moved up, took Michael's hand, not saying anything more. Kyle merely stood with his arms crossed, obviously with no intention of going anywhere either.  
  
"Fine then. Let's stop talking about it and get up there. I want to take a look at the granolith while we still can, try and figure out exactly what it is." Max shifted Tess's weight in his arms. She moaned again, but didn't open her eyes.  
  
Within minutes they had climbed the slope and Michael was placing his hand against the silver hand-print on the rock face. The entrance to the pod chamber slid open. Max welcomed the sensation of coming home he always felt within the cave of his birth. He realized that he had always suspected that the answers to all of his questions were here, from the first moment Tess had showed it to him. He only hoped that today proved him right.  
  
He ducked his head, taking care to shield Tess as well. He moved into the main cave, gently laying the small blonde down near the lightly glowing pods.  
  
"What do you think's wrong with her?" Kyle asked, sounding concerned.  
  
"I wish I knew," Max sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stared down at the unconscious girl. He felt Liz come up beside him, brought his arm up and around her, taking strength from her presence. In spite of his bravado outside, he was terrified. Because, in the end, he did not want to die today. Not when he and Liz had just reunited and the thought of really [I]living[/I] was again full of the promise of happily ever after.  
  
Simply having the chance to openly love her and be with her was all the happily ever after Max would ever need.  
  
Max kissed her lightly on the temple, taking her hand in his. Looking down at her, he raised an eyebrow. "Want to see what all the fuss is about?"  
  
Her eyes lit up, just as he knew they would. In spite of her fear, the prospect of seeing a real alien device, particularly one that was capable of time-travel, was almost balm enough for her science-loving soul.  
  
He looked around at the others. "C'mon."  
  
"I'll stay here with Tess," Kyle called after them as they moved towards the pods.  
  
Max got down on his hands and knees and crawled through into the granolith chamber. He stood up, reaching down to help Liz to her feet. He watched her reaction, smiling slightly at the awe that crossed her face. "This is [I]amazing[/I] Max. God."  
  
She moved away from him, reaching out with her hand and touching the glowing base of the metallic structure. When she looked back at Max, her eyes were bright with tears. "This.this is where he left her. Fourteen years from now, it's where [I]you[/I] would have left me."  
  
Max hurried forward, gently pulled her against him. "It's not going to happen this time. I swear to God Liz. No matter what, we won't be separated again."  
  
"I can feel them here," she whispered, clutching at him. "They.[I]we're[/I] everywhere."  
  
He stroked her hair lightly, desperate to comfort her. He had had absolutely no idea that she was going to react this way. It humbled him actually. Because, for the first time, truly he understood how hard it had been for her to push him away. But she had done it, simply because another version of him had asked her to. What had he ever done to deserve such loyalty?  
  
"You love me. It's reason enough," she said quietly, as though she had heard his very thoughts, which maybe she had. She had demonstrated an entirely too perceptive ability to do so in the Jeep on the way here after all.  
  
It was only when Michael came crawling through that Max realized that he and Liz had been alone in the granolith chamber for several minutes, just taking comfort from being in each other's arms, fear pushed aside in the face of how right they were for each other.  
  
But cold reality set in as he looked over Liz's head at his friend, felt the warm feeling in his heart fade at the expression on Michael's face. "What's wrong?" He asked.  
  
"Tess, she's." Michael grimaced. "Maxwell, she's awake."  
  
Max frowned. "And that's not a good thing?" Liz turned her head against his chest. She was still pressed firmly to Max, but was obviously now listening to Michael too.  
  
"Well." Michael sighed. "She's acting a little weird. I think you better come see for yourself. She's asking for you." Max nodded, but Michael grabbed his shoulder as he passed him. "Maxwell, you need to know something." Max simply stared at him, waiting for him to go on. "Maria, she elbowed me and I noticed.Max, she's wearing Serena's scarf."  
  
Max glanced at Liz, his surprise reflected on her face. Max hadn't really thought about what had happened to Serena's scarf since he had taken it away from Liz earlier. Now he frowned. What the heck was Tess up to?  
  
They hurried back through the pods. Tess had obviously been waiting for him if the sigh of relief that escaped her at the sight of him was any indication. She was standing against the far wall, a strange look on her face. In fact, she looked distinctly freaked.  
  
Max climbed to his feet, moved towards her carefully. He paused briefly, glancing behind him with concern when he heard a gasp from Liz, who was just now emerging from the pods. She was staring at Tess, as though she had seen a ghost.  
  
Max grimaced, realized that he was going to have to deal with Tess first, although his instinct was to return to Liz. He didn't like the look on her face. But Tess really seemed on the verge of bolting at the slightest misstep from any of them. "Tess?" He reached out, gently touched her shoulder, making her look at him. Her blue-eyed gaze had been glued to Liz after her first glance at Max. "What's wrong? Can you tell us what happened to you?"  
  
Tess bit her lip, glanced past him. Max turned his head, saw that she was looking at Liz again. Max's heart started to beat more rapidly. What the hell was the matter with her? "Tess, what is it?"  
  
"I.I got here a bit early. I locked myself in the car to wait for you," Tess explained slowly, swallowing, as though she was coming out of a dream - or maybe a nightmare was a better word for it. "When you didn't come, I got scared, so I decided to come up to the pod chamber, thinking I'd be safer."  
  
"Okay." Max prompted when it seemed that she wasn't going to continue.  
  
Tess's eyes widened and Max realized that she was on the verge of tears. "Max, I don't quite.I don't know how to tell you this!"  
  
"Tess, just tell me," Max ordered.  
  
"If I tell you, you aren't going to listen to me. But you have to understand! He [I]made[/I] me do it! I didn't know who I was! He raised me to.He told me all these things about who I was and about how if I didn't act, I was going to turn out just like I had before. He lied to me Max."  
  
Max could feel himself beginning to get a little annoyed, his impatience getting the better of him. "Tess!"  
  
He felt someone move past him, gently nudging him aside. "Max, let me try."  
  
"Liz, I really don't think."He began, but trailed off, watching in amazement as Tess's hand came up and her fingers trailed lightly across Liz's cheek. The blonde almost seemed transfixed as she narrowed her gaze and stared directly into Liz's eyes. It took all of Max's strength not to reach out and drag Liz away from the other girl.  
  
But there was nothing threatening in Tess's regard, Max realized, when Liz didn't even flinch. Instead, her caress was entirely loving, almost reverent.  
  
"It's okay. You can tell us," Liz said softly. "I think I know anyway. I.I'm just sorry I didn't realize it before."  
  
"You didn't know who you were," Tess replied. "It's not your fault. It's [I]mine[/I]. I should have known. I should have recognized you. But.He told me you were my enemy. I thought you were human. And I didn't know who I was. I swear it."  
  
"Maxwell, what the hell is going on here?" Michael demanded in a low tone, coming up to stand next to him. "They're both freaking me out here."  
  
"You're not the only one," Max replied. "Liz."  
  
Liz turned her head, regarded Max. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears again. Max took a surprised step forward. "Liz?"  
  
"Max, I'm so stupid. How could I not have realized?"  
  
"Liz, what?"  
  
"We've found her Max. It's Tess. Of course it's Tess."  
  
Max raised his hands in frustration. "Liz, I don't know what you're trying to tell me."  
  
Liz put her arm around Tess's shoulders. The two girls were of a height, blonde and brunette heads level with each other.  
  
Max blinked, shook his head, when a flash momentarily blinded him. For one instant, neither Liz, nor Tess was standing in front of him. He was staring at two small, grey figures, identical down to their serene dark eyes. Completely the same, in every way. And he knew them. He knew them both.  
  
Because how could he not recognize the one who was his very heart and the other who was his saviour?  
  
Oh God.  
  
He met Liz's eyes - because she was Liz again - the radiance of her happiness shining on her face, coming directly from the soul he had loved for two lifetimes. She nodded once.  
  
Max shifted his gaze to Tess and smiled. "Serena."  
  
To be continued. 


	31. Chapter 31

[u]Part 31[/u]  
  
It took Kate an instant to get her bearings when she materialized. She had thought of Zan and had teleported to where he could be found, which took more energy than leaping to a specific place, so her knees were a little weak too.  
  
She looked around, saw that she was in a cave of some sort. Her gaze was instantly drawn to the four pods nestled against one wall. Her eyes widened. It didn't take a huge amount of logic to understand that she was where Zan's four square had been hidden.  
  
Her interest was immediately forgotten though when she became aware of exactly who made up the group gathered in the cave. Kate felt a flash of such intense anger, it took all of her strength not to simply raise her hand and blast the traitorous bitch presently standing beside Liz as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.  
  
"Liz, get away from her!" She exclaimed instead, moving forward and grabbing Tess roughly by the arm, thrusting her against the cave wall. The blonde gasped in pain. "I'm onto you witch." Tess's blue eyes widened in shock as she took in the anger on Kate's face. "Don't try and pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You're behind all of this."  
  
"What the hell?" Michael's exclamation of surprise drowned out the rest of them, even though they had all started talking at once.  
  
Kate felt a hand on her shoulder, turned to meet Zan's dark eyes. He was frowning. "What are you doing Kate?"  
  
"I came to find you," Kate replied. "To warn you actually, and just in time it would seem. She's a traitor Zan."  
  
"Where's Alex?" Maria asked.  
  
"We were captured," Kate told her. She pointed her finger accusingly at Tess. "And she was the one responsible." She blinked in surprise when she realized that Liz was kneeling beside their enemy again, her arm protectively around the blonde's shoulders. "Liz! What are you doing? Get away from her!"  
  
Liz did not seem the least bit willing to follow Kate's advice though. All she said was, "Tess, do you have any idea what she's talking about?"  
  
"No," Tess said. "I swear I don't. I came straight here after I went home."  
  
"Liar!" Kate shrieked. She almost gave into the primal urge to attack Tess. She would have actually, if it wasn't for Max's hand, which was still firmly holding her in place. "Jack and Isabel are both almost dead because of you! I was [I]there[/I] Tess. Do you think I've forgotten what you did?"  
  
"Okay, settle down," Max ordered firmly. "Kate, tell us what you're talking about. There's probably a very logical explanation for all of this."  
  
Kate turned her head, stared at him. "Max, she's the one behind everything. She's the one who kidnapped Isabel. Why are you all acting like you need to protect her?"  
  
"Because she's my sister," Liz said quietly.  
  
She stared at Liz for a full minute in shock. "Okay, what?" Kate finally demanded, when she regained the use of her vocal chords. "You don't have a sister Ro."  
  
"I do," Liz returned. "And she's Tess. Her real name is Serena. Whoever it was that took you all captive, it wasn't Tess."  
  
Kate felt her heart drop. They had all been brainwashed by Tess's mindwarping capabilities. It was the only explanation! What was she going to do? They weren't going to believe her! She knew that there was no such person as [I]Serena[/I]. How had Tess come up with such a twisted plot? And what was she hoping to gain from it?  
  
Kate glared at Tess, her hatred so pure, for one instant she hoped she could turn the other girl to dust just with the sheer force of it. "You witch," she muttered, shaking her head. "If anything happens to my brother.Or Alex.I will kill you."  
  
"Kate, it's okay," Max said. "Just tell us where Alex and Will are. Maybe Tess [I]can[/I] shed some light on what you think happened."  
  
"Why should I? You aren't going to believe me. I don't know what she told you, but she's obviously done something to all of you."  
  
Max sighed. "Nothing happened to us Kate. We came here and Tess was unconscious outside. She was wearing the scarf that your brother gave Liz and it brought back her memories." Max looked at Tess. "Show her."  
  
Tess raised her arm, her eyes still wide. Kate could see that her face was whiter than a ghost. She narrowed her gaze. She had to admit that Tess did look seriously freaked. She was obviously a very good actress. No wonder they all believed her lies. "That's Rowena's wedding scarf," Kate informed them. "Will did tell me he gave it to Ro. Why does [I]she[/I] have it?"  
  
"It did something to Liz," Max told her grimly. "She became someone else - someone named Serena. She said she was Rowena's twin sister. I managed to get Liz to take it off, but Tess took it and." He paused, looked at Tess. "You never did tell us why you took it Tess."  
  
Tess shrugged. "After Liz took it off, you left it sitting on the couch in the break room. I picked it up because I thought it might be able to give us more answers. The instant I touched it though, it just.I don't know.It did something to me." She swallowed, her eyes glassy as she remembered. "I freaked a bit, which is why I went home for a minute." Tess grimaced, turned to Liz. "I told you a few minutes ago that I have some stuff to tell you guys that is going to make me look really bad." She looked at Kate again. "And now that I think about it, I think I know why Kate thought she saw me."  
  
"What?" Michael exclaimed. "Tess, what the hell is going on? How much do you know and how much have you been keeping from us?"  
  
"A lot," Tess whispered. Her expression was so tortured, Kate almost believed that her remorse was genuine. "But I didn't know who I was. He [I]told[/I] me I was Ava, that you were mine." She said this to Max, who was frowning. "What I thought I knew.It was all a lie."  
  
"Tess, are you talking about Nasedo?" Max asked gently.  
  
Tess nodded, lowered her eyes. "When I went home, it was to contact him." Kate heard almost every other person in the cave gasp. Liz was the only one who stood silently, her arm still linked with Tess's.  
  
"He's alive?" Michael croaked. "Are you telling us that Nasedo is [I]alive[/I]?" His voice rose exponentially with each word, until he bellowed the last, making Kate flinch.  
  
"Yes," Tess replied softly. "And I contacted him because I needed to find out what this scarf is, why it made me feel so weird."  
  
Kate felt satisfied. Now they would understand, would see that Tess could not be trusted, that she had betrayed them. They could make her tell them where Alex, Will, Jack and Isabel were being kept and why.  
  
"I mindwarped you all into thinking he had disintegrated when we tried to heal him here," Tess explained. She looked at Max. "The man you saw in your bedroom.He was a Skin."  
  
"Why?" Max asked, still not sounding angry, much to Kate's dismay. What was wrong with him? Tess was a traitor. What did it matter why?  
  
"It was because of Whittaker," Tess explained. "The fact that the Skins had found you.He knew it was only a matter of time until you were all reunited with them." She indicated Kate. "He said that we had to stop that from happening and the only way to do it was if he went undercover. He told me all about Zan and Rowena. He said that if Zan and Rowena met again, it would be the end of any hope I had with Max. He didn't know that Max had already found her." She turned to Liz. "He didn't know who you were Liz."  
  
"Okay, could this [I]be[/I] anymore confusing?" Kyle asked the assembled group in general. "I think I need a flow-chart to keep all these relationships straight."  
  
"You're not the only one," Michael muttered. "And I'm supposed to be [I]on[/I] the flow-chart."  
  
"I still don't see what any of this has to do with the fact that not three hours ago you threw an alien device at Alex and knocked us all out Tess," Kate said into the silence that had fallen over the cave after Michael's comment.  
  
"It was Nasedo," Tess shrugged. "Imitating me. It had to have been. I won't deny that I've done bad things." She lowered her eyes. If she was pretending to be ashamed, she was doing a good job of it. Kate felt herself softening, in spite of the fact that she was still angry. "But he told me I was Ava. I didn't remember anything, really. I swear I didn't. I only know what [I]he[/I] told me."  
  
"What exactly [I]have[/I] you done?" Michael demanded. "I think we have a right to know that Tess."  
  
Kate watched Liz squeeze Tess's arm supportively. "You can tell us Tess," she said softly. "I know who you are and I believe you. Just tell us everything." In that instant, Kate caught a glimpse of Rowena in Liz. She couldn't tell if it was a gesture or the tone of her voice or what it was, but her sister-in-law was [I]there[/I], just for a moment. It was weird how that kept happening. One of them would do or say something and she would recognize them as the people she had loved back home. It was creepy and, yet, somehow, reassuring. They were getting somewhere - finally.  
  
"Well, you all know I mindwarped Max when I first came to town," Tess said. She looked at Max. "The memory you have of leaving me behind.I faked that. It's not real." She paused to think. "And I mindwarped Michael, Max and Isabel into thinking Nasedo was dead. That's it though. I swear, that's all."  
  
"But what about Nasedo?" Michael asked bitterly. "He's supposed to be our protector. And if it's the granolith he wants, he sure knows where to find it." Kate followed his gaze, wondered why he was staring at the pods.  
  
When Max glanced at her sharply, she abruptly understood. "Oh my God," she breathed. "The granolith is here?"  
  
"No," Michael snapped, but it was too late. She could see from the expression on his face that he was trying to backtrack.  
  
"It is," Kate stated firmly. They were all looking at each other, not quite panicked, but close. "You have to let us use it you guys. We have to save our people."  
  
Michael turned away, obviously upset. Maria went to comfort him. Kate felt bad about the fact that he felt guilty about having revealed the granolith's location, but she couldn't let that stop her. Her people were [I]dying[/I].  
  
"Our people are innocent," Kate pleaded. "You have to let us use it."  
  
"You call Nicholas innocent?" Michael snarled, turning back. "He tortured Isabel."  
  
"That wasn't Nicholas," Kate argued. "Will talked to him. He had no idea Jack and Isabel were even missing."  
  
"He's a liar Kate," Max said. "We have no reason to believe him."  
  
"He has no reason to lie to us," Kate insisted. "He's our general."  
  
"Maybe he got tired of waiting for you all to be old enough to help them?" Maria suggested. "Maybe he was working for Nasedo too?"  
  
"Or maybe that [I]was[/I] Nasedo in the message," Kate argued. "Just trying to confuse us all even more. He [I]is[/I] a shapeshifter after all. He can be whoever he wants to be." She paused, something occurring to her. "I'll bet that was him who killed Courtney too. The odds are that Jack was captured the same night as Isabel. The Jack who was in the hotel with us last night was definitely not ours."  
  
"Man, he sure gets around, this shapeshifter," Kyle muttered.  
  
"Kyle's right," Max agreed. "It does seem like an awful lot for someone to handle alone."  
  
"Oh wait!" Kate exclaimed. "I forgot something else. One of the men working for Nasedo.If that's who was really behind all of this." She looked at Tess, still not entirely convinced that the blonde was as innocent as she proclaimed. Kate had [I]seen[/I] her after all. She shook her head though, trying to refocus. "Anyway, Alex knew him. He said his name was." She paused, wrinkling her nose. "Graham? Or Grant?"  
  
"Grant Sorenson?" Liz asked. "Oh no."  
  
"That was it," Kate said. "Alex recognized his voice."  
  
"Wonderful," Michael muttered. "So we [I]do[/I] have to think that everyone we come into contact with is bad news." He looked at Max. "I knew there was a reason I couldn't stand that guy. We can't trust [I]anyone[/I], even the people who are supposed to protect us." Kate felt a shiver descend her spine when Michael glanced at her, a slightly suspicious expression on his face. Was he thinking that they were wrong to trust [I]her[/I] too?  
  
"Which again brings us back to what Nasedo is up to," Liz spoke up. "Why did he lie to Tess for all this time? What was he hoping to gain? It just [I]can't[/I] be the granolith. Michael was right before. He knows exactly where it is."  
  
"I don't know if he does," Tess said, making them all look at her in surprise. "He didn't find me here you guys. I was alone." She looked at Kate. "Or so he said. He may have lied about that. But the point is, he may not know where it is. I mean, we were in here several times before Isabel found it. And it only came to life when we were near it."  
  
"You expect us to believe you didn't tell him?" Michael demanded.  
  
Tess bit her lip. "I don't expect you to believe anything Michael, but I didn't tell him. I didn't know what it was. How was I supposed to know it was so important?"  
  
"You didn't think Nasedo would want to know about an alien device?" Liz asked quietly.  
  
"I." Tess sighed. "I don't know," she finally shrugged. "Maybe I just didn't trust him. Michael's right. His behavior certainly hasn't been protective since he found you guys. I never understood that." She looked at Liz. "But I thought I had to stick with him if I was going to have a chance with Max. He told me I [I]had[/I] to. Liz, I saw the way Max is with you. I knew I couldn't divide you guys on my own. I thought working with Nasedo was my only chance. But I never told him about the granolith."  
  
"What I want to know is, what the heck [I]is[/I] the granolith anyway?" This came from Maria, who had been listening quietly up to this point, except for the several moments when she had comforted Michael. "It's a time machine, it can save Kate's people? What is it? Is it.I don't know," she waved her hand in the air. "Is it God?"  
  
They all looked at Kate. She grimaced. It was so hard to explain! "It's not God, obviously," she said carefully. "But it is a holy artifact on our planet. Basically.I don't know quite how to put this." She sighed. "The only word I can think of to compare it to is [I]life[/I]."  
  
"Okay, what?" Kyle asked. "It's a machine, isn't it? How can a machine be 'life?'"  
  
Kate pushed her hair behind her ears, sighing. "It just [I]is[/I]. I'm not sure why. But it's what our protectors told us."  
  
"Your protectors?" Max asked. Kate looked at him, wondering why he sounded so thoughtful. "Shapeshifters?"  
  
"No," Kate replied. "They were Skins. Alex and I figured out that Nasedo was our original protector though. Our birthplace was the cave where you were healed last winter." She looked at Michael when she said this. "And before you ask, our pods were destroyed after we were born. Anyway, Nasedo knew the cave, so he had to have been the one who brought us there."  
  
"So what happened to [I]our[/I] protector?" Michael wondered. "What we're saying is that it [I]is[/I] possible that there's another shapeshifter running around?"  
  
"This is [I]so[/I] frustrating!" Maria exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. "And it's not even the worst of our problems right now. We need to save Alex and Isabel!"  
  
"We do," Liz acknowledged. "But I don't know if saving them is going to do any good until we figure this all out."  
  
"I don't see how that's possible Liz," Michael snapped, earning him a dirty look from Max. He modified his tone. "Sorry. But the point is we have no idea." He pointed at Kate. "[I]She[/I] has no idea and she knows ten times more than we do."  
  
"I know Michael," Liz replied. "But I think one of us does know."  
  
Kate watched everyone look at each other, mystified. "Who?" Maria finally asked.  
  
Liz turned her head and regarded Tess. "Serena."  
  
Tess blinked, stepped away from Liz. "What? Liz I have no idea! I would tell you if I did."  
  
"I believe you [I]think[/I] you have no idea," Liz told her. "But I know what Future Max told me. It was Serena who modified the granolith in the future to bring him back. It was [I]you[/I] Tess. Which means that you must know something about it."  
  
Tess wrinkled her nose. "I wouldn't even know where to start."  
  
"In the granolith chamber," Liz replied simply. "Have you even really [I]looked[/I] at the granolith Tess? I mean, you might surprise yourself."  
  
"No," Tess allowed. "I only saw it for the first time when Isabel showed us. It's another reason I think Nasedo might not know it's here. He never told me it was. " She seemed uncertain, but her spine straightened when she met Liz's eyes. "I could try I guess."  
  
"You won't be alone," Liz reassured her. "I'll be right there with you."  
  
"We'll all go," Max said firmly. "We don't know what that thing can do."  
  
Kyle snickered. "Wouldn't it be great if we were all sucked in? That would sure solve a lot of our problems."  
  
"Not funny Kyle," Maria snapped.  
  
"The granolith isn't dangerous," Kate said confidently. "I know it isn't."  
  
"Yeah, but you're the one who thinks a machine is 'life,'" Kyle reminded her, smirking. Kate glared at him. He really was most irritating, this human boy. He was nothing like her Alex.  
  
She blinked. Oh wonderful. There she went again. [I]Her[/I] Alex. Right. In her dreams maybe. Not that she'd had any time to sleep really in the past twenty-four hours. Kate sighed, followed the rest of the group through to the granolith chamber.  
  
***  
  
Alex watched Nasedo pace back in forth in front of him, his heart pounding unsteadily. He had just finished telling the supposed-to-be-dead shapeshifter all about Future Max and the granolith and the end of the world. Now he was waiting to see if he was going to be allowed to live a while longer or whether Nasedo had had enough of him.  
  
"Well Mr. Whitman," the shapeshifter finally said, "I can see that keeping you alive may serve me well for the moment. You are a font of information."  
  
"I try," Alex muttered. He grimaced when Nasedo turned his piercing eyes on him again. [I]Shut up![/I] The little voice in the back of his head yelled. [I]Just shut up![/I]  
  
[I]Sorry![/I] Alex replied meekly.  
  
"Your information is incomplete, however," Nasedo told him "What I would like to know is exactly how this future version of Max managed to modify the granolith. Time travel is not its purpose. I'm going to have to go look at it, figure out how it happened."  
  
"I don't know how," Alex replied, crossing his fingers behind his back. After all, he didn't [I]really[/I] know. Mentioning the mysterious Serena - the one Liz had spoken of - wouldn't help matters and the last thing he wanted was for Nasedo to send his minions after her, whoever she was. "I could think about it," he offered weakly.  
  
Nasedo continued to stare at him, his expression unreadable. Finally he said, "Don't worry Mr. Whitman. I don't plan to kill you right now, even if your information was merely interesting, not really useful. It's too bad you don't know where the granolith is, but I will still keep you alive. It makes much more sense to use you to negotiate with Zan. He will turn himself over to me for you."  
  
"Why do you want them all anyway?" Alex asked. He shook his head at his own insanity for even trying to hold a conversation with this psycho, but he couldn't seem to stop his mouth. It just kept talking.  
  
"It's Rowena I really want," Nasedo told him, narrowing his eyes. "Your little friend Liz Parker is much more valuable than I ever realized. I should have known though. Zan's obsession with her should have given me the information I needed." He shook his balding head. "But she is almost completely human. I did not recognize her at all. I should have known he was keeping something from me."  
  
"Who?" Well, since he apparently couldn't stop, he should just keep asking questions while Nasedo was willing to answer them.  
  
Which apparently Nasedo no longer was. "It doesn't matter." The shapeshifter waved his hand in the air. One of the minions standing nearby came over. "Take him back to the cages. Throw him in one of the empty ones. We'll kill him when we need to put its real occupant in it."  
  
Alex sighed. Wonderful. He was going to get to live longer and be able to [I]reflect[/I] on all the horrible ways Nasedo might kill him.  
  
A few minutes later he was thrust unceremoniously into the cage next to Will's. Alex was relieved to see that the young king was still conscious and hadn't had his essence sucked out like Izzy or Jack. Will was sitting on the ground, leaning against the back of his cage, a pensive expression on his face. He turned his head only when Alex said his name.  
  
"You're back," he said flatly. "I'm glad you're okay."  
  
"You sure sound it," Alex replied. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing," Will muttered. "I'm just thinking."  
  
"About Liz?" Alex asked, feeling a pang of sympathy in spite of himself. Even though Alex knew that Liz belonged with Max, he could understand Will's pain. Because didn't he know exactly how it felt to be in love with someone who couldn't have cared less? He looked past Will at Isabel, who had been gently laid on a mattress in her cell. One glance at Jack in the cell on his other side showed that Will's cousin had been afforded no such luxury.  
  
Grant obviously still had a soft spot for Isabel. It made Alex wonder. Who exactly [I]was[/I] the bohunk in the grand scheme of the Antarian star system anyway? From the way Isabel had been attracted to him, it seemed likely that she had known him.  
  
"Yeah," Will said. Alex shook his head, refocused. What were they talking about again? Oh yeah. Liz. "I just don't understand it," Will continued. "I [I]know[/I] she loved me. I know she did."  
  
Alex sighed. "This is a different world buddy. We can't choose who we love. It just happens." He frowned, looked at Isabel again. He hated to see her like that, wished there was something he could do to help her. He loved her still, in spite of everything. He was pretty sure now that they were never going to be anything but friends, but that didn't mean he would ever [I]stop[/I] loving her. Loving Isabel didn't mean that he wouldn't be able to love anyone else, ever, but how he felt about her.She would always be his first love.  
  
And, yet, it wasn't Isabel he was really worried about. Isabel was safe for the moment, if unconscious. It was Kate's face that kept filtering into his mind. He wondered where she was, if she had found Max and the others, if she was safe.  
  
"I just wish things could be different," Will said.  
  
"I don't think they're going to change Will," Alex told him. "You're going to have to accept it. Because who knows? Maybe your soulmate is waiting around the next corner. She may pop up when you least expect it. You don't want to miss her because you were pining over someone you never had a chance with in the first place."  
  
He was saying the words to Will, but Alex knew in his heart that he was talking about himself. He just hoped that he got a chance to explore the possibility with the girl he suspected might just be the one for him.  
  
Alex wasn't sure that he believed in God. He hadn't ever really thought about it actually. But that didn't stop him from sending out a little prayer to whoever might be listening.  
  
[I]Please let her molecules be in one piece. And please let mine stay that way until I can see her again.[/I]  
  
To be continued. 


	32. Chapter 32

[u]Part 32[/u]  
  
Max was about to get down on his hands and knees to crawl through into the granolith chamber after Liz when Michael grabbed his arm. They were the only two left in the pod chamber proper. When Max turned back to look at his best friend, he could see from Michael's expression that he had intended it that way. He looked, for all the world, like Max's father when he was about to get a major lecture.  
  
"Maxwell, are you sure about this?" Michael demanded in an undertone. "This whole thing.it feels wrong somehow."  
  
Max frowned. He had to admit that he wasn't as calm internally as his present demeanor indicated. But he had promised that he wouldn't arbitrarily make decisions for the whole group. Liz had made a suggestion to which they had all agreed and, at this point, there didn't seem to be many other options.  
  
The granolith was the key to everything. Until they figured out what was so important about it, they were working at a disadvantage.  
  
And, yet, the concern on Michael's face made Max pause. Maybe he was going along with this a little to easily. "What are you thinking?" He asked his friend.  
  
"It's about Tess," Michael admitted. "Liz seems to think she knows exactly who she is, that she should be able to figure the granolith out because that other Serena did." He trailed off, grimacing. "But, if that's true - and she has her memories back.Then, shouldn't she have known right away?"  
  
"Maybe Serena didn't know about the granolith right away then either?" Max suggested. "Tess [I]is[/I] Serena Michael."  
  
"I don't get it," Michael said. "How do you know for sure?"  
  
"I can't explain it," Max sighed. "I [I]saw[/I] her. For an instant, I saw both of them."  
  
"Who?" Michael asked, squinting in confusion.  
  
"They were who they were before Michael. I [I]saw[/I] them," Max explained quietly. "Both Liz and Tess."  
  
Michael scratched his neck, shaking his shaggy head. "You know, it would have been helpful if Future You had given Liz some more info Maxwell. What was with all the mystery? I mean if Tess was Serena, why the hell didn't he just say so?"  
  
"Apparently he was told not to say too much. That he could only mess with the timeline so far."  
  
"I wonder how long it took for us to figure out Tess was Serena then," Michael said.  
  
Max shrugged. "I doubt we'll ever know that."  
  
"Are you guys coming?" Maria called through from the other chamber.  
  
Max met Michael's eyes. He was glad they'd had this moment to talk, glad that he wasn't the only one on edge. "Keep your eyes open," he instructed under his breath.  
  
"That's my job Fearless Leader," Michael smirked. But Max could tell that underneath his sarcasm, he was deadly serious about doing so.  
  
Moments later, Max was in the granolith chamber. His gaze was instantly drawn to Liz, as always. She was standing on the far side of the cone, talking quietly to Tess. The blonde had her hands up near her mouth. Her blue eyes were fastened on the blinking point at the base of the mechanism and she was quite obviously deep in thought, only half listening to Liz.  
  
"I still feel like it's watching me," Tess finally said softly. Max remembered Tess saying that on the day that Isabel had shown them the granolith chamber for the first time. She looked at Liz. "Do you feel it?"  
  
"No." Liz looked across at Max. "Can you?"  
  
He shook his head. Michael was doing the same, as was Kate.  
  
It was becoming ever more clear that Liz was right. Tess clearly had some sort of connection to the alien device that the rest of them didn't. She was the key to unlocking its secrets.  
  
Max could see Michael shifting from one foot to the other, as though he was barely keeping himself from saying something. Tess noticed too, because she asked wryly, "Is something wrong Michael?"  
  
"I want to know why you don't know what this thing is," he blurted before Max could stop him. "You're wearing that scarf. You have your memories. Shouldn't you [I]know?[/I]"  
  
Tess bit her lip, sighing. "I don't know," she said. "I wish I did."  
  
"Max, when I was wearing that scarf, did I know what the granolith did?" Liz asked.  
  
Max frowned. "I'm not sure actually. We didn't discuss the granolith. Come to think of it, I never made the connection between the Serena that other me told you about and you saying you were Serena."  
  
"That's understandable," Liz said. "I never actually [I]told[/I] you any of it. All you know about Future Max's visit you got from the flashes."  
  
Max smiled slightly at the memory of exactly how he had gotten those flashes. "Oh.right."  
  
"Oh brother," Kyle said, rolling his eyes. "Can we please move on? I may be ill."  
  
Liz's cheeks were a little pink as she continued, "Anyway, my point is, I'm surprised it even jumped out at you just from the flashes."  
  
"I must have recognized her name," Max said.  
  
"But why didn't I?" Liz asked, frustrated. She looked at Tess. "How could I not have known who you were? Who any of you were?" She directed this at Max, sounding sad.  
  
"That's the question, isn't it?" Maria said. She had moved closer to Liz, had a comforting arm around her shoulders. Max was glad. He wasn't quite sure what to say to his girlfriend to make her feel better. He couldn't explain exactly what it was he had felt when he had first seen Liz that day, when they were both kids. All he knew was that he had felt an instant connection to her. Liz had said before that he had 'remembered' her, but it hadn't been that really. He had felt a pull to her beyond anything he understood or could even try to control. He had felt something similar when he had first seen Michael, Tess [I]and[/I] Kate, but it had been different at the same time. With the others, it [I]had[/I] been recognition.  
  
Abruptly he knew what the difference had been. He had recognized the others, but with Liz, it had felt like coming home. His soul had been reunited with its other half.  
  
Why hadn't she felt the same thing? Why had he felt it from the beginning and she had been oblivious to who she was until Will had come to town? How exactly had they been separated and why was she more human than the rest of them?  
  
"Why do I have a feeling that this stupid cony thing has all the answers?" Maria continued, a little angry.  
  
"Because it probably does," Kyle replied, smirking at her.  
  
"Valenti, you and I are going to have to step outside if you don't stop with the smartass remarks," Maria told him.  
  
"I'm shaking in my boots Deluca." Max noticed that Kyle did shut up after that retort however.  
  
"Well, just standing here staring at it obviously isn't doing us any good," Max said into the silence that had sprung up following Maria and Kyle's exchange. "I guess it's time for plan B." He looked at Tess. "Do you know where Nasedo has Isabel, Alex and the others?"  
  
"I think so," Tess replied. "He has a base of operations in a canyon near the reservation."  
  
"And you didn't tell us this before why?" Michael demanded.  
  
"Because we've been a little preoccupied with other stuff Michael," Tess snapped back. Max struggled to hide a smile. He was glad that some of Tess's spunk was returning. She had been pretty shell-shocked since she had regained consciousness. He remembered that Serena had never had any difficulty speaking her mind.  
  
What the.Max blinked. Had that been a memory?  
  
He stared hard at Tess. For one instant, something in the way she tossed her head while speaking to Michael jogged something he hadn't even know could be jogged.  
  
"Whoa!" Kyle said. "What [I]was[/I] that?"  
  
"What was what?" Maria asked, sounding a little threatening.  
  
Kyle took a protective step back, glared at her, obviously a little embarrassed, then said, "The cone thing. It just flashed. Didn't anyone else see that?"  
  
"I did," Liz said. She had taken a step forward, a pensive frown on her face. "I think what Tess was saying before - about it watching us - I think she was right." She raised her eyes. "It was reacting to something. But [I]what[/I]?"  
  
Max swallowed. "I might have an idea," he said. "I just had a memory."  
  
"Really?" Liz asked. "What was it about?"  
  
"It was about Tess actually," Max admitted, feeling a bit guilty. "Well, Serena."  
  
"About me?" Tess asked, amazed. "What was it?"  
  
Max looked at Liz briefly. She didn't seem at all upset, so he replied, "It wasn't really a memory of anything specific actually. It was just the way you spoke to Michael. It struck me as very [I]Serena[/I]."  
  
"And the granolith must have flashed when that happened," Liz said, still thinking. She was staring at the cone, her forehead slightly creased. "That makes sense. We're connected to this thing somehow. It comes to life when we're near. It recognizes us. [I]Why?[/I]" She looked at first Kate, then Tess. "Do you guys have [I]any[/I] idea?"  
  
Kate sighed. "I wish I did. I told Alex before, half of what I think I do know, I'm now wondering if it's all a lie anyway. All I was ever told about this thing was that we needed it and that it could save our people."  
  
Tess had taken a step forward though, her head tilted. She was staring at the cone again, a strange look on her face. "The granolith is life," she said quietly. "The granolith is [I]life[/I]." She narrowed her eyes, so intent on whatever it was she was thinking about, she didn't even flinch when the point at the end of the cone flashed brightly again.  
  
"Holy cow!" Kyle exclaimed. "Tess! What did you do? I thought you didn't have alien death-ray eyes! You told me you didn't have them!"  
  
Max ignored him though. He could not take his eyes off of Tess. "Did you have a memory?" He asked, excitement coursing through his veins.  
  
Tess frowned. "No," she said. "I didn't [I]have[/I] a memory." She bit her lip, still staring at the base of the cone. Max started when it flashed again.  
  
"Tess! What are you doing?" Michael demanded, his voice reflecting his attempt to hide his concern. Or maybe that was fear Michael was trying to hide, Max amended. Because if it was, he wouldn't be alone. Max could feel his heart racing too - half in anticipation, half scared about what they were about to find out.  
  
Because Tess seemed to know exactly what she was doing.  
  
"I didn't [I]have[/I] a memory," Tess elaborated, after Liz nudged her gently, pressing her for a further explanation. "The granolith [I]gave[/I] me one."  
  
"What?" Max demanded.  
  
Tess looked at him, her blue eyes wide. "Max, I remember what this thing is." She glanced at Kate. "Kate was right. It is [I]life[/I]. It gave [I]us[/I] life."  
  
"Okay, is anyone else a little sick of the roundabout revelations?" Kyle asked the group as a whole. Tess scowled at him. "Well, I mean c'mon woman. Just spit it out!"  
  
Tess rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little surprised that I didn't remember before. Now that I [I]know[/I], it feels like I always did."  
  
"Maybe you did?" Liz suggested. "Maybe the granolith is unlocking your memory, not [I]giving[/I] you memories?"  
  
"Maybe," Tess said. "But one way or the other, I know why the Skins and are so desperate to get their hands on it." She shook her head. "It's so obvious, I can't believe we didn't think of it before."  
  
"Again, not so obvious to [I]all[/I] of us," Kyle muttered. For once, Maria was nodding in agreement.  
  
"Sorry," Tess laughed slightly. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, the granolith cloned us. It's why it recognizes us. It gave us life. Even more than that, in some ways, it [I]is[/I] us."  
  
"Are you saying that our pods came out of this thing?" Michael asked. He stepped forward, ran his hand down the sloped cone shape.  
  
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Tess told him. "This was the part of the ship that protected our pods when we were coming here. But it also [I]produced[/I] our pods. It created us." She shook her head, glanced at Liz. "I can't believe I didn't remember this. God, it's all so clear now."  
  
"Like a giant hybrid mixmaster," Kyle suggested. "Toss in some human DNA, a few essences, and presto changeo, your own fully formed pod squad."  
  
Max snorted slightly. He couldn't help it. When Kyle said it like that, it sounded absolutely ridiculous.  
  
He sobered when he caught Michael's glare. "I'm so glad you're amused Maxwell. This is serious!"  
  
"I know it is Michael," Max replied. "But if we don't keep our sense of humor about this, we might as well just give up now. I mean, c'mon. This is [I]nuts![/I]"  
  
"Don't you believe me?" Tess asked, sounding hurt. Max grimaced, particularly when he saw the disapproving expression on Liz's face.  
  
"Of course I believe you Tess," he said quickly. "I'm just wondering how this information helps us now."  
  
"Well, we know why the others want it," Liz stated. "They must want to hybridize themselves so they can live on Earth more easily."  
  
"But why does Nasedo want it?" Michael questioned. "He seems to be doing just fine. He doesn't need it."  
  
"Maybe so the Skins can't have it?" Max theorized. He wasn't the only one to offer up a suggestion though. Six out of the seven of them gathered in the granolith chamber started to talk at once.  
  
"Okay, wait a sec," Maria interrupted loudly, raising her hands. "We're never going to figure out what Nasedo wants, so let's just forget it for the moment. He makes no sense anyway. He was sent here to [I]protect[/I] you all and it's the furthest thing from what he's done, so screw him. What I don't get is. Tess, if it created you, how do you know how it works? I mean, how could you know? It created you. It's like the chicken and the egg, isn't it?"  
  
Tess laughed. "Well, sort of, but not really. Don't forget, I lived before."  
  
"But still.You were like a queen's sister," Maria reminded her. "Do queen's sister's run around cloning people in your galaxy? How did you know?"  
  
Max took a step backward when the granolith flashed again. He heard exclamations of surprise all around. Kyle was the first one to recover. "Okay, who did it?"  
  
Max glanced around at the others, blinked when he realized that it was Liz who was staring at the granolith, looking shocked. "It was [I]me[/I]," she whispered. "I remember."  
  
"What Liz?" Max asked, moving towards her quickly. She seemed mildly freaked.  
  
Liz met his gaze, as though to reassure him that she was fine, then looked at Tess. "Maria's right. I know why you remember Tess. It's because the granolith is [I]yours[/I]. Serena invented it."  
  
Tess started to nod in agreement, but she stopped abruptly, her eyes widening as she took in something behind Max. It was barely a warning, but Max was already turning when a new voice said, "She did indeed."  
  
Max instantly raised his hand, throwing up his shield. He felt a wave of frustration when he realized that only he, Tess, Liz and Maria, were covered by it. Michael, Kate and Kyle were too far away, still on the other side of the cone.  
  
"Don't worry Zan," Grant Sorenson said, quirking a grin at him. "I'm not going to hurt you. I've come to help you, now that I know you're finally ready." He turned his smarmy smile on Tess. "But I can see that I'm not needed. You're about to get all the right answers from the source."  
  
Max felt the dislike Grant always engendered rush through him. "Who are you?" He demanded. He looked at Michael, hoping to get his attention. He wanted his best friend to get Kyle and Kate to move so that they'd be protected by the shield too, but Michael had his own hand raised, as though preparing to blast Grant himself, so it was no use.  
  
Max could feel himself weakening. He was really going to need to work on his endurance with this thing if it was ever going to have any real value.  
  
"It doesn't matter who I am Zan," Grant told him. "All you need to know for now is that I'm on your side."  
  
"He's lying Max," Kate told him firmly. "Alex recognized his voice. He's working with Nasedo."  
  
"I'm [I]pretending[/I] to work with Nasedo," Grant corrected. "He and I." The archeologist shook his head ruefully, "We go way back. I decided a few months ago to use that to my advantage. I've been pulling strings on the inside."  
  
"Who [I]are[/I] you?" Max demanded again, trying to inflect even a little authority into his tone. He was getting really tired now. He straightened abruptly when a renewed surge of energy ran through his veins. Looking down he saw that Liz had taken hold of his hand, was trying to help him.  
  
"You can stop that," Grant said. "Although I must admit, it's kind of romantic, trying to protect each other like that. It's so Zan and Rowena."  
  
"It's okay Max," Tess told him quietly. "I know who he is. He's telling the truth. He won't hurt you."  
  
"Prove it," Michael snapped.  
  
"Oh very well," Grant sighed. Max felt his heart stop when Grant raised his hand too. He was pretty sure he'd be able to hold the shield through one blast, but what about Kyle, Kate and Michael?  
  
It took him a moment to realize that no blasting was happening. Instead, before his amazed eyes, Grant Sorenson started to shapeshift. And who he shifted into was enough to make Max drop his shield altogether.  
  
"Oh my God! Max!" Liz breathed, her disbelief matching his own.  
  
"Recognize me now?" Grant asked. He reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulled out a small container. It made a slight clicking noise as he turned it over and shook two Tic-Tacs into his hand, before popping them into his mouth.  
  
"Max, that's the guy who told us to go home the night we staying out in the desert," Liz reminded him, although Max already knew it. "The night we found the orb at the radio tower."  
  
It seemed that Grant Sorenson had not just arrived in town at all. He had been watching them for months.  
  
Which meant that there had been two shapeshifters in Roswell all along.  
  
To be continued. 


	33. Chapter 33

[u]Part 33[/u]  
  
Liz was still clutching Max's hand, even though he had dropped his shield. She could feel his shock intermingling with her own. If Grant was the other protector, why had it taken him so long to reveal himself? Not to mention, did the fact that he was one of the shapeshifters that had been sent in the ship with their pods necessarily mean that he [I]was[/I] a protector? Nasedo had certainly proven himself a fraud on that front.  
  
The man - Liz found it hard to think of him as Grant now that he looked nothing like Grant - was watching Max and Liz, expressionless now, all of his joking charm gone. The granolith chamber was quiet, as though everyone was still trying to absorb the shock of what had just happened.  
  
He could provide the answers they needed and, yet, they were all just standing there staring at him. Although she had never known Nasedo to be straightforward, the possibility that this new alien might be able to give them some concrete information.this opportunity could not be wasted.  
  
Just because Liz knew they shouldn't trust him didn't mean that she wasn't going to at least listen to what he had to say.  
  
Liz bit her lip, voicing the first question that came to mind. "Why did you decide to reveal yourself now? We never even knew you were a shapeshifter and if we had, we probably would have just thought you were Nasedo."  
  
"I told you Rowena, you weren't ready," the shapeshifter shrugged. He was still staring at her with his dark, unreadable eyes, making her shift uncomfortably. "Are you afraid?" He sounded slightly surprised, as though he hadn't expected it. What was wrong with him? How could he not know that they were all terrified. That not knowing who they really were was frightening and that finding out only bits and pieces at a time was making it worse?  
  
"A little," was all she would admit to though. "Why.Why weren't we ready?"  
  
The shapeshifter smiled slightly. "Not 'we' Liz. The others have always known who they were. What I meant was that [I]you[/I] weren't ready."  
  
"I didn't know who [I]I[/I] was either!" Tess intervened, sounding a bit defensive. Liz looked at her, felt a rush of affection. Her sister was clearly trying to make it clear that she was not willing to have Liz singled out as different in any way. It continued to amaze Liz that she already felt so close to Tess. With all their history, it shouldn't have been so easy.  
  
But, then, who they were now.It wasn't really them. The relationship that had existed between them before was obviously stronger than any petty differences this time around.  
  
The sheer irony of the whole situation was that intellectually Liz knew that they [I]weren't[/I] petty differences. Some of what Tess had done was almost unforgivable. And, yet, Liz found herself not caring, just wanted to embrace Tess for who she had been - not for who she was now. Which was actually a bit of a problem. It was almost like they had absolutely no control over their lives anymore. In spite of what she had said to Max earlier, about them still being able to choose their destiny, it was beginning to look like that wasn't true at all.  
  
Liz wondered if the granolith had anything to do with it, whether maybe it was helping their bonds to forge again, without them even knowing it.  
  
It was obvious that it was the centre of their entire existence, that it could indeed provide all the answers. And, suddenly, anything Grant had to say didn't seem quite as scary. Because somehow they would find out anyway. They [I]had[/I] to know one way or the other. What had come before was invading this life to such a degree that they could no longer avoid the truth.  
  
To be able to reclaim their lives, they needed to know.  
  
"No," Grant was conceding to Tess. "But that was because you were lied to - to a certain degree anyway. You always knew you were special." He looked back at Liz. "This one though." He shook his head. "It was to be expected I suppose. She is far more human than the rest of you."  
  
"But [I]why[/I]?" Max demanded, squeezing Liz's hand. Liz knew that this had been bothering him, even if he would never admit it. Why had he recognized her and she hadn't started to know him until he had healed her? "What happened? I knew her the instant I laid eyes on her. Why was she separated from us?"  
  
"Her pod was the most damaged in the crash," the shapeshifter replied. "I tried several different methods to repair it, down to replacing the human DNA, which is why Rowena and Serena are no longer identical. They were meant to be. None of my attempts worked though. You were dying. It was finally necessary to find a new womb."  
  
"My mother." Liz breathed. "How?"  
  
"She couldn't have children," Grant replied. "Your grandmother was a friend of mine. She told me of your mother's problem, mainly because she witnessed my healing abilities. She wanted me to help her. And so I did. Just not in the way your grandmother envisioned." He sounded mildly sorry about that. "I only told Claudia Parker the truth after your birth, in case there were any side effects because of your heritage. In case your gifts presented themselves. They never did though. Your growth in a human womb affected your development further than I foresaw."  
  
Liz's eyes widened at the news that her Grandma Claudia had always known the truth about her. She wondered if she should be upset that her grandmother had never told her any of this. "And my parents have no idea?" She asked, unsure how she was supposed to feel about this revelation. She had accepted the fact that she wasn't completely human, but to know that she wasn't even really Nancy and Jeff Parker's child.She hadn't allowed herself to think about it before.  
  
Max seemed to sense her uncertainty because his arm came up around her waist. She leaned against him gratefully.  
  
"They do not," Grant told her. "And they don't need to. To them you are their daughter. It all worked out for the best. It kept you safe. Nasedo doesn't know who you are. Or at least he didn't until that one's brother started raving about having found Rowena." He looked at Kate when he said this. She raised her chin and glared at him for his barely veiled insult of Will. His disdain was apparent when he continued, "Khivar never could keep his mouth shut. It got him into a galaxy's worth of trouble before and he's continuing the trend."  
  
But Liz was only listening with half an ear now, trying to put all the pieces together. Everything they already knew, everything they had found out over the last year.It all had to fit somehow. He had said something about replacing the human DNA first. "Oh my God," she gasped, the truth dawning on her suddenly. "You killed Sheila Hubble!" She took a step backward, feeling sick. "You [I]killed[/I] her because you wanted her baby!" She willed him to deny it.  
  
Grant didn't say anything, remained expressionless. It was all the acknowledgment Liz needed. She brought her hands up to her mouth in horror. "Max." She could feel herself getting dizzy.  
  
"Out," Max ordered, obviously sensing her impending meltdown. "Everyone out of here, now." Liz could hear him distantly. She allowed herself to rest her forehead against his chest, ordered herself to take deep breaths to calm down. "Michael, get them out of here."  
  
"Max, I want to stay," Liz heard Tess say.  
  
"Tess, just go. She'll be okay," Max told her firmly. "We'll just be a second." Liz was concentrating on her breathing, felt it come more regularly when she felt Max's hand start to stroke her hair comfortingly. "Maria." he urged quietly because Tess obviously wasn't moving.  
  
"C'mon Tess," Maria said. "I know Liz. She's strong, but she can only take so much. That she hasn't had a freak-out before now.She's [I]too[/I] strong sometimes. She needs to be with Max."  
  
She just wanted them all gone. Now. She closed her eyes and willed them to leave. While she loved them all, she did not need any witnesses for her potential freak-out. Kate had already witnessed one. Liz didn't want Will's sister to think that she was insane. Although maybe she [I]was[/I] going insane. This was her second uncharacteristic meltdown in the space of twenty-four hours after all.  
  
It seemed to take forever, but she felt when they were finally gone. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, she allowed the tears to come. She started to tremble.  
  
"Liz?" Max pulled back slightly. She could see from his expression that he was almost as angry as she was upset. "None of this is your fault. What happened to Hubble's wife.To your mom and dad..You cannot blame yourself. I won't let you blame yourself."  
  
"Max, how can I not blame myself?" Liz demanded, wiping at her eyes in frustration. "He [I]killed[/I] her. And for nothing because it apparently didn't even work! He still had to put my mother at risk. And for what? Why am I so important? This is ridiculous!"  
  
He shook his dark head. "Liz, it's not your fault."  
  
"But maybe it [I]is[/I] Max. The fact that we had to be cloned in the first place and sent here.that we had to bring all these innocent people into our messed up existence.What right did we have to do that? So we were queens and kings and rulers? So what? We had no right. we [I]have[/I] no right! I don't care what happened to us. No group has the right to impose their own will on another. We [I]died[/I]. Maybe that's the way it was supposed to happen. Maybe we should have just stayed dead."  
  
Liz could feel her anger getting the better of her. She turned her head, glared at the granolith. "This thing.It's completely dangerous. Playing with time-travel, playing with people's lives.We just have [I]no[/I] right!" She smacked it in a vain attempt to take some of her fury out on the stupid machine that had messed everything up.  
  
It hurt. Liz blinked, stared at her hand in annoyance. "Ow."  
  
"Are you okay?" Max demanded, grabbing her hand and examining it. She pulled it away, wanting to savor the pain. It was actually making her feel a little better. At least it had snapped her out of her red-hot rage. "Liz, you need to calm down. You are not acting like yourself."  
  
"Probably because I don't know who I am anymore," Liz snapped.  
  
"So we find out. We [I]are[/I] going to find out Liz," Max insisted. She turned to scowl at him, irritated. Didn't he get it? Whatever they found out, none of it was going to make any of this [I]right[/I]. "I can see that's not what you wanted to hear," he added mildly.  
  
"I don't want you to say anything," Liz replied, knowing that she was being ridiculous. "I just want to rant for a moment okay?"  
  
"Okay," he replied. "But can I just say something first?"  
  
"Max!" She exclaimed in frustration, but she wasn't really mad. She was actually getting a little embarrassed that she was behaving like such a maniac. Maybe Maria was right. It had probably been a long time coming, what with destiny messages, summers away from her true love, Future Max, Copper Summit, Will and everything else that had happened over the past few months.  
  
Okay, this freak-out had been coming since the shooting last year, she amended silently to herself. Her life was complete chaos! In spite of what Max said, no answers were going to be able to bring things back under control until she refused to allow things to just keep happening to her. She did believe that they could choose their own destiny, but that didn't mean she had been making any real attempt to do so.  
  
It was time to take a stand.  
  
"I just want you to think about something Liz," Max insisted, his worry at her behavior obvious. "What happened to Sheila Hubble, it is unacceptable. I agree. But we had no control over it. We can regret it, but we can't change it. And as for you parents, you cannot honestly tell me that you think they would [I]ever[/I] not want you, that they would ever change what happened?"  
  
"Max, they don't know what happened!" Liz exclaimed.  
  
"Liz, they don't [I]need[/I] to," Max reminded her. "To them, you are their daughter. Don't you think it would hurt them more to find out otherwise?" He reached out, putting his hands gently on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "You are their miracle. What happened to them.it's a [I]good[/I] thing."  
  
She stared at him, her emotions in turmoil. She felt like crying and laughing hysterically at the same time. "I don't feel much like a miracle right now," she finally muttered. "I'm a mess."  
  
"Liz," Max sighed in exasperation. "You're [I]allowed[/I] to be a mess! Are you ever going to accept that?"  
  
Liz smiled slightly in spite of herself. He looked about ready to tear his hair out. "Are you calling me a control freak?" Max sighed heavily, obviously at a loss about what she wanted him to say. "It's okay. I am a control freak. And so are you. Which is why this is so hard for both of us. We are completely out of control of this situation Max."  
  
"The only way to get control back is to get answers Liz."  
  
"I know," she whispered. She took a step forward, straight into his open arms. "But what if we don't like them Max? We're so close. All I've heard up until now.Max, even our protectors turned against us! What does that say?"  
  
"I don't know. I wish I did. But we have to find out. We have no choice."  
  
They stood quietly for a long moment. "I'm ready," Liz said at last. "Whatever he has to tell us, I'm ready to hear it. I know some of it's going to be bad, but as long as we agree that we'll fix anything we can, I can bear it."  
  
Max pulled back, stared at her, hard. "Are you saying you'll accept what we can't change?"  
  
"I don't have any choice, do I?" Liz sighed. She reached up, pushed a dark lock of hair off his forehead. "And I have to admit, there are many, many things I wouldn't change at all." She stood on her tip-toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I can't believe you actually love me. I'm turning into a complete psycho."  
  
He pulled her tightly against him. "Not psycho. It's just you. You are the most compassionate person I know. The fact that who we are has hurt others.of course it's going to bother you. It bothers me too. Just because it does, doesn't mean you're crazy. I'd be more worried if it didn't."  
  
"Are you telling me that you want me to freak-out more often?" Liz asked.  
  
"Um." Max wrinkled his brow. "Well, that's not necessary. But I do want you to know that if you need to freak-out, you're allowed to."  
  
Liz smiled at him. "But only in front of you. Thank you for getting them all out of here. I so did not need witnesses for that."  
  
"Can I bring them back?"  
  
Liz nodded firmly. "Let's get this over with."  
  
***  
  
The group Max had just tossed unceremoniously out of the granolith chamber stood uncomfortably around the main cave, most of them refusing to meet each other's eyes, knowing that if they shouldn't continue talking until Max and Liz were with them again.  
  
Kate was keeping her eye on Michael, concerned about Liz, but knowing somehow that Max would be able to handle that situation.  
  
No one else seemed to have noticed that Michael's top was just about ready to blow, preoccupied as they were by how upset Liz was. Even Maria was still staring at the pods, worried, her attention completely focused on her best friend.  
  
Michael was the only one, other than Kate, with something else on his mind. And whatever it was, it was pissing him off - big time. He was staring at the shapeshifter, his eyes narrowed. The protector had taken the opportunity of the short break to shift back into Grant Sorenson, obviously a form in which he felt more comfortable.  
  
And, so, Kate thought she was probably the only one completely not surprised when Michael broke the silence. "I want to know something," he said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Michael, we should wait," Maria reminded him.  
  
"This has nothing to do with Max and Liz," Michael snapped. Maria blinked, but didn't seem upset. "If he's supposed to be our protector, why did he have me thrown in jail last month? What the hell was [I]that[/I] about? Those bones should have stayed hidden."  
  
[I]Michael was in jail?[/I] Kate thought, surprised. She looked at Kyle, who was standing next to her.  
  
"It's a long story," he muttered under his breath. "Suffice it to say, Max had a little trouble with the FBI last year. We had to take care of it."  
  
"You [I]killed[/I] someone?" Kate whispered, felt her eyes widening.  
  
"It was an accident," Kyle assured her. "Michael was protecting my dad. He had no choice."  
  
"I knew the Sheriff would get you out of that," Grant said. "There was no danger."  
  
"And, yet, somehow that doesn't answer my question," Michael replied, obviously struggling to control his temper. "Why the hell did you dig them up in the first place?"  
  
"To prove to Nasedo that I was working with him and not for you," Grant shrugged. "I've been protecting you for a long time. He found out about some of it and wasn't willing to believe that I was ready to join the cause for real this time. And I [I]had[/I] to make him believe."  
  
"You've been [I]protecting[/I] them?" Maria demanded, sounding incredulous. "How do you call letting Michael grow up with that ass Hank protection?"  
  
Grant's eyes narrowed. "Once I knew how bad it truly was, I took care of it."  
  
Kate saw Michael and Maria glance at each other. "What is [I]that[/I] supposed to mean?" Michael finally asked, sounding slightly appeased, although also a little worried.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Grant said firmly. "Hank [I]was[/I] an ass." He quirked a grin at Maria. "He got what he deserved."  
  
"Why doesn't that make me feel better?" Kyle muttered to Kate.  
  
"But." Michael trailed off, uncertain.  
  
"What Michael? Just ask," Grant said, sounding annoyed. "I'm here to answer your questions."  
  
"Why didn't [I]you[/I] look after us? You've obviously known where we were all along."  
  
"You were kept safer by blending in," Grant told him. "Being normal has kept you alive."  
  
"But we were [I]never[/I] normal!" Michael flared. "Don't you think our lives would have been a bit easier if we'd known who we were?"  
  
"It was too soon for you to know," Grant replied. "You were too young and were of no use to anyone - including yourselves. You would have just gotten yourselves killed, defeating the whole purpose of your existence."  
  
"Which is?" Michael demanded. His fists were clenched at his sides in frustration. Kate watched Maria take his arm, obviously trying to help him control himself.  
  
"That's for you to find out on your own," Grant said. "I will tell you as much as I can, but the granolith is the only place where your purpose can be uncovered."  
  
"Speaking of the granolith." Tess spoke up here. She had been listening quietly, but Kate could tell now that her attention was still more focused on what was going on between Max and Liz. "Do you think they're okay in there?"  
  
It was just at that moment that Max's dark head poked itself out of the bottom pod. "Everything's fine. You guys can come back in." He backed away again.  
  
"You know, I'm getting really tired of this," Kyle sighed, as he dropped to his hands and knees in front of Kate and crawled through the pods again.  
  
Kate was inclined to agree. As much as she wanted to hear what Grant had to tell them, with every passing moment she was becoming more and more concerned about Will and the others.  
  
She even admitted to herself that it was Alex in particular she was worried about. He was completely expendable. The shapeshifters obviously had no qualms about killing humans one way or the other. What if Nasedo had decided to just.  
  
[I]Stop it![/I] Kate ordered herself firmly. [I] Stop thinking about it. He's fine. He [/I]has[I] to be fine. If Nasedo wanted to kill him, he would have just done it when he captured us.[/I]  
  
Yet, she was still afraid. She knew that the way she felt about him was pointless, that he was never going to feel the same, but she had come to realize that she had no control over her heart. She cared and that was all there was to it.  
  
If nothing else, knowing Alex had made her understand Zan and the others a bit more. Now she got why these humans were so important to them, why their fear and concern for them was so intense. Humans were frail and backward, with a knowledge of the universe that was sadly lacking, but they were still good and worthwhile beings. She had never had the opportunity to know a human like she felt she knew Alex.  
  
She had never had a chance to [I]feel[/I] just a little bit human, to acknowledge that she was just as much an Earth dweller as she was a Sardican now.  
  
For the first time ever, she had started to think about the kind of life she might lead were she to not go back. She was beginning to understand that the memories she possessed were real, that while they might not be in order with what had really happened, they were what she - at least that other her - had known.  
  
She wanted to find out the truth, their purpose, why they were all together and on Earth. She wanted to know if maybe her destiny was on this planet now and not on Sardica.  
  
She wanted to know all of this for one simple reason.  
  
It was all because of Alex Whitman. He had changed her in the space of twenty-four hours. And even if he didn't really care, she would always be grateful to him.  
  
She wanted to be able to tell him that - just once. Because she was pretty sure he didn't have any idea how amazing he really was. In spite of everything, it was [I]all[/I] she really wanted, to be able to tell him that.  
  
And that was the scariest thing of all. Anything Grant was about to tell them paled in comparison.  
  
Kate shook her head as she emerged into the granolith chamber again. The fact that she was standing in the granolith and didn't particularly care reinforced the [I]real[/I] truth of the matter.  
  
She didn't just care about Alex. She was a complete goner.  
  
To be continued. 


	34. Chapter 34

[u]Part 34[/u]  
  
"Alex? Alex, wake up! Alex, [i]please[/i] wake up!"  
  
Alex jerked out of the very light sleep in which he had been indulging, uncomfortable as it was on the hard floor of his prison. Glancing at his watch, he realized that he had been more soundly asleep than he realized. A couple of hours had passed since he and Will had run out of things to say about the fact that they were trapped, with the young king unable to use his powers at all thanks to the cage in which he had been placed. Whatever controls Grant had fiddled with had obviously had something to do with making sure that the hybrids didn't have access to their gifts.  
  
It was now just after midnight. Rubbing his eyes, he felt more exhausted than was really ordinary for a healthy seventeen-year-old who was a night owl anyway - although body-numbing fear for several straight hours did have a tendency to drain a guy's energy.  
  
It took him several more seconds and another impatient hiss for him to realize what had woken him.  
  
A voice. Not just any voice. The desperation in that voice.  
  
It was [i]Isabel's[/i] voice. She was awake!  
  
"Iz! Are you okay?" He was instantly fully awake, on his feet and across the cage so that he could grab his friend's hand through the bars that divided them. He was able to reach up to turn her chin so that he could meet her gaze.  
  
What he saw there made his heart break.  
  
Her large dark eyes were bright with unshed tears. "Alex." was all she managed to say before collapsing to her knees, unable to hold her pain in any longer.  
  
"Isabel!" He exclaimed, horrified. He had never - not once - seen Isabel cry like this. She was sobbing now, quite clearly on the verge of losing all control of herself. "Izzy! Please! Tell me what's wrong! Let me help you!"  
  
She simply continued to clutch at his hands desperately, as though contact with him would help her to regain her composure. Alex felt completely helpless, the bars between them so frustrating, he felt the urge to burst into tears himself.  
  
"Just let her cry it out."  
  
The voice behind him made Alex crane his neck around to glare at Will, who was watching them impassively from his cage on Alex's other side. "What kind of advice is that? I can't just sit here and watch her cry!"  
  
"Don't you get it?" Will asked mildly. "She's been through a lot. She just woke up. It's taking her a moment to adjust to the way things are now."  
  
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Alex turned back to Isabel, patting her hand frantically. She was beginning to settle down now, but he could see that she was fragile in a way he had never experienced in her before. Something was incredibly wrong.  
  
Of course, he did understand that Isabel had every right to lose it. She had been kidnapped, tortured by Nasedo (he assumed it was Nasedo who had tortured her anyway, having shifted into Nicholas to confuse them all) and had to have wondered if they were ever going to notice that she was gone.  
  
And before that he had basically told her he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. What a friend he was.  
  
"She's no longer who she was," Will told him quietly. "The part of her that made her Vilandra is gone. She's adjusting to its loss. Just look at Jack."  
  
Alex turned again, glanced past Will at Jack. Will's cousin was also awake, although Alex wasn't surprised that he hadn't noticed at first. The blond boy was pressed into the corner of his cage, his knees up to his chest and his forehead resting on his knees. He was shaking slightly, as though it was taking everything in him not to erupt like Isabel had.  
  
"Is he okay?" Alex demanded, knew that his eyes were wide with shock that Will was just standing there while his cousin was obviously in so much pain.  
  
"He's fine," Will replied evenly. "He's working through it. They both need to deal with this on their own and in their own time. I can't help them. I have no idea what it must be like."  
  
Isabel took in a great gulp of air, bringing Alex's attention back to him. "Wh.what is he talking about Alex?" She managed to say. "What's [i]wrong[/i] with me?"  
  
"What [i]feels[/i] wrong?" Alex asked, unable to understand what it meant to have lost her alien essence. What was she going through?  
  
"I." She clutched at his hands again. "I feel empty."  
  
Alex touched her face again, making her look at him. "Isabel, do you remember what happened?"  
  
She closed her eyes for a moment, leaning forward so that her forehead touched the bars between them. Alex caught the scent of her blonde hair as it tumbled over her shoulders. Even after all she'd been through, the slightly exotic smell - Maria had told him once it was sandalwood - that always made him think of her lingered around her. His heart skipped a beat in spite of himself.  
  
"Isabel?"  
  
"I remember what happened between us," she whispered.  
  
Alex sighed. "Iz, I'm sorry."  
  
"No!" She exclaimed, raising her head. "You were right. I have treated you horribly Alex. How could I do that to you? You're my best friend. I'm so sorry!"  
  
Hearing him call him her "best friend".It was what had set off their argument. Why had it hurt him so much then and now it was like music to his ears? It was amazing how thinking you'd lost your best friend changed your perception on these things, he mused, shaking his head slightly. Looking at her now - awake, [i]alive[/i].Whatever it was that had upset him before just seemed so insignificant in comparison.  
  
"Please," he said, feeling like his heart was about ready to crack down the middle at the agony of her expression. "Isabel, none of that matters now. I'm the one who's sorry." He reached through the bars, stroked her hair comfortingly. "I need to know what else you remember. After our fight.where did you go?"  
  
"I." Her voice cracked slightly. "I left the Crashdown. I went for a walk. I thought I might find you. What I said to you when you got so mad.it just all came out wrong." She raised her head. "Anyway, that's the last thing I remember. Being in the park.and then nothing."  
  
"Nasedo kidnapped you," Alex told her quietly. "He sent us an orb that made it look like it was Nicholas, but it was him."  
  
Isabel's eyes widened, her shock evident. "Alex, Nasedo's dead!"  
  
"He's not," Alex disagreed. "He's very much alive. And that's not all." He trailed off, grimacing.  
  
"Tell me," Isabel said firmly. He looked at her, concerned, but could see that her composure had returned. This was the Izzy he knew and loved. Whatever losing her alien essence had done to her, it hadn't changed her fundamentally.in spite of her breakdown of a few moments ago.  
  
"Grant Sorenson," Alex said carefully. "Isabel, he's working with Nasedo. And so is Tess." He looked around the cave for Grant. He was nowhere in sight, although a collection of Nasedo's minions was gathered around a table on the far side of the cave.  
  
"What?" This exclamation of surprise from Isabel made him focus his attention back on her.  
  
"It's true," Alex assured her. "I'm sorry Isabel."  
  
She sat back on her heels, shaking her head in dismay. "I can't believe it. I just cannot believe it. Darn them for being right!"  
  
He stared at her, perplexed. This was not the reaction he had expected. "Who was right about what?"  
  
"Max and Michael," Isabel sighed, obviously more annoyed about that then shocked about what he had just told her. "They both hate his guts." She looked up, a slightly mischievous expression on her face. "It was part of his charm actually. He really is kind of cheesy."  
  
Alex grinned slightly in spite of himself. He knew he should be peeved that her determination to break his heart by dating Grant had been partly to irritate her brothers. And, yet, he wasn't. It didn't hurt at all.  
  
He wondered at that - wondered what it meant in the grand scheme of his relationship with Isabel Evans.  
  
Could it be.Was it possible that he was ready to be just friends with her? That "best friends" was what they were meant to be?  
  
He frowned slightly, a flash of concern for Kate attacking him unaware. Oh boy. He could see exactly where this was headed. He really was determined to jump from the frying pan into the fire wasn't he? Not satisfied with pining after one alien princess beyond his reach, he was obviously trying for the record - crushes on the two must unsuitable and unattainable females on the planet.  
  
"Tess though?" Isabel asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. "That I [i]do[/i] find hard to accept." Alex could see that she was sad as she continued, "I really though that she was one of us Alex. In spite of everything that happened last spring, we really bonded this summer. Not to mention the fact that Whittaker kidnapped her. Why would she do that if she was working with her?"  
  
Alex stared at her. He'd forgotten exactly how much she had missed since her disappearance. "We don't think Nasedo's working with the Skins Iz." He looked back at Will, who was listening quietly. Jack's head was now up and he was paying attention as well, a tenseness still evident in the line of his shoulders, but whatever he had been dealing with a few minutes ago obviously mastered for the moment.  
  
Alex stared at the blond boy, a slight frown on his face. He wondered if this was the guy he had taken such a shine to in class yesterday, or whether that had been someone else. He still hadn't worked out exactly when Jack had been kidnapped. It was obvious that the Jack who had killed Courtney was not [i]this[/i] Jack, but when had he been replaced?  
  
Not to mention, Nasedo really seemed to have gotten around. There had to be another shapeshifter involved somewhere.  
  
He looked through the bars of his cage at Nasedo's various minions. They were still gathered at the other side of the cave, obviously not overly concerned about guarding them, even though they were now all awake. They were all clearly very confident in whatever security system was keeping the hybrids from using their gifts.  
  
And did Isabel and Jack even [i]have[/i] gifts any longer? If their alien essences were gone.  
  
He remembered abruptly that Nasedo had told Michael and Isabel once that their powers were just advanced human abilities though. Not that they could trust Nasedo. But there was a possibility that their gifts were still active.  
  
Not that they'd be able to find out in these cages. Alex didn't even want to [i]ask[/i] Isabel what she thought about the matter. It would likely only upset her.  
  
Focusing on Nasedo's helpers again, he wondered whether one of them a shapeshifter. And what exactly was Nasedo trying to accomplish anyway? Kate had told him during one of their many discussions that the Waylandians (the shapeshifters) were on Zan's side in the conflict that had a stranglehold on their star system.  
  
Was Nasedo simply a rebel, or was he a representative of the real loyalties of his entire race?  
  
God. There was so much they still didn't know.  
  
Again, he wondered briefly where Kate was at this moment. This time it wasn't about concern, but more about curiosity. As hard as he had hoped that Max and Liz would listen and stay away from here, he was beginning to realize that, deep down, he had never actually expected them to cooperate. It was completely unlike either of them to just leave he and Isabel languishing here with their enemies.  
  
Where was everybody? Were they in pursuit of the answers that they would all need to finally take control of this situation? Or had something happened to them after all?  
  
Alex crossed his arms, sighing. He was really tired of all this worrying. In the future, if anyone ever tried to convince him that splitting up was a good idea, he was going to bring up this experience to remind them that it was the epitome of stupid.  
  
He'd rather they were all together, no matter what the cost, he realized abruptly. He was going to have to tell Max that this should be their game plan from now on.  
  
"Alex?" His head jerked up at the slight tremor in Isabel's voice. He looked at her. He could see that she was paling again, as though whatever it was that was happening to her inside was trying to take over again.  
  
"Iz?" He reached out again. "Are you okay?"  
  
Isabel wet her lips, slightly dazed. "Alex, what's wrong with me?"  
  
He grimaced. "We don't exactly know," he admitted quietly. "We know what we were told."  
  
"What?" Her fear was evident again.  
  
"They took away the part of you that made you Vilandra," Alex told her in a rush. "We have no idea how, but basically the gist is."  
  
Isabel's eyes widened, her shock evident, as she interrupted. "I'm human," she breathed, obviously understanding instantly. "I'm completely human?"  
  
"We think so. We were worried for a while. Your body.and Jack's," he added, gesturing to Will's cousin, who was now speaking quietly to Will, obviously trying to deal with his demons too, "Didn't seem to be handling it very well. You were unconscious for a very long time." He looked at her carefully, searching for any sign that she was unable to handle this news. "Isabel?"  
  
She was shaking her head slightly, as though she was uncertain how she was supposed to feel. "I don't know.I don't know how I'm supposed to take this," she finally said. She looked up. "Do you know that all I've ever really wanted was to be normal?"  
  
"I know," Alex said. "And now?"  
  
"The way I feel now." She swallowed, a slight tremor running through her statuesque frame. "I'm not meant to be like this Alex. I don't think I can [i]live[/i] without that part of me."  
  
He sighed. "I'm sorry Isabel."  
  
"Is.Is there a way to get it back?" She asked tentatively.  
  
"We don't even know how they did it to you," Alex replied carefully. "We don't know. We can hope there is. If there is, you have to know that none of us will ever stop until we find it, if that's what you want."  
  
She was quiet for a very long time after this, simply leaning against him through the bars. Finally she said, "I can't think about this right now. There's no point and it's going to drive me crazy."  
  
"What do you want to think about?" Alex asked, willing to talk about anything to take her mind off of what had been done to her.  
  
"Tell me exactly what's been going on," Isabel ordered him firmly. She had straightened her spine, her strong will exerting itself. Alex felt a flash of admiration run through him, along with a flash of the affection he always felt in her presence. This was the Isabel he loved. Strong, capable and entirely warm and approachable. This was the Isabel he had not seen hide nor hair of since that destiny message had been played on the orb in the pod chamber so many months ago.  
  
"Everything?"  
  
"Everything," she affirmed. "If we're stuck here, we might as well try and figure out what's going on." She looked past him at Will. "Hey, you."  
  
Will raised an eyebrow, looking mildly amused. "Princess?" Alex remembered that Kate had told him that the Sardicans had never had anything against Vilandra - that, in fact, she had joined them in the end. He felt slightly frustrated again. Was there not any way to find out exactly what had happened in that past lifetime that had led them all to the mess in which they were presently embroiled?  
  
He brushed the feeling aside though as Isabel continued, "Are you going to help us or are you going to sulk all day?"  
  
If Isabel had her way, apparently there would be.  
  
To be continued. 


	35. Chapter 35

[u]Part 35[/u]  
  
Max stood with his arm around Liz as the others crawled back into the granolith chamber. She was trembling slightly, but he knew that it was no longer because she was on the verge of freaking out. She was half-excited, half-scared by whatever information Grant was going to spring on them next.  
  
He knew this because he could [I]feel[/I] it. Just as certainly as he knew he felt the same way, he could feel exactly what Liz's emotions were at the present time. It was also why he had known to get everyone out so that she could have her meltdown in private. Since their conversation in the Jeep, he felt more in tune with her than ever. The fact that she had revealed that she could read him had resulted in him being able to do the same back, now that he knew it was possible.  
  
Max was glad that he had been able to help her, just like she had made him see more clearly earlier. If there was anyone who deserved the chance to lose it every once in a while, it was Liz. She was always so strong. He had always known it too, even before they started to get to know each other better after the healing in the Crashdown. Her strength of character was one of the things he had most admired about her from afar. It was also one of the reasons that he had always daydreamed of telling her the truth, had known somewhere deep inside that she would understand.  
  
Her strength had only increased since he had brought her into the fiasco that was his existence. She had stood firmly against him when he had tried to push her away, conquering all his defenses, and, then, finally, when she felt it was for his own good, she had walked away on her own. Her fierce unwillingness to compromise or to take the easy road was one of the many things he loved about her. The fact that he knew this - that he loved that about [I]Liz[/I] - made it easier for him to believe and accept what she had said to him in the Jeep earlier. It didn't matter that they had apparently meant something to each other before, in that other life. Although it was nice to know, he would have loved her no matter what. Of that he had no doubt.  
  
And, apparently, she had loved him anyway too. Because he was almost entirely positive that the Future Max and Future Liz he had heard so much about recently had not known anything about Liz's origins - or at least they hadn't until it was too late. It was the only explanation for why Future Max had decided to come back to the point in time he had. They had had to stop Tess from leaving town so that they could all find out just how closely they were linked - that Tess and Liz's relationship was just as important as Tess and Max's, if not more so. If Liz hadn't pushed him away when she did, the two girls would have likely had to wait years to find out who they really were. By then, it would have been too late.  
  
It [I]had[/I] been too late. The world had ended.  
  
But that Max and Liz had chosen each other anyway. Without knowing the truth, they had loved each other. And that was good enough for him. They were meant to be.  
  
Max wondered briefly if they would ever know for sure exactly [I]what[/I] Future Max had known. He hoped so. He had a feeling though that he might just have to accept that, in spite of how hurt he had been a couple of weeks ago, Future Max's visit had changed things for the better.  
  
Now they had the chance to learn what they needed to know so much earlier. They had the chance to forge bonds with those they had likely seen as their enemies in the future, re-establish ties with Kate, Will and Jack that had obviously been important to them in the past lives. They knew that Tess really was one of them and so was Liz. The bitterness that had obviously been allowed to fester in that other world would never have a chance now.  
  
They now knew who their real enemy was, who their real enemy had always been. Now all they needed to know was [I]why[/I].  
  
Max met Grant's dark eyes as the shapeshifter straightened, having just come through the opening between the pods. "We want to know everything you can tell us. We're ready."  
  
"And none of this 'I can't tell you what your purpose is' crap either," Michael spoke up from behind Grant. "You tell us [I]everything[/I]."  
  
Grant shrugged. "I will tell you what I can. But I wasn't being evasive when I said that I cannot entirely tell you your purpose. I was not in charge of the mission to bring you here. In fact, I barely managed to get myself on that ship. Nasedo didn't trust me then and he still doesn't entirely trust me now." He looked at Michael. "I will repeat what I said to you earlier. That's the reason I dug up those bones. I had to make him believe that I didn't care about your safety one way or the other. That I was ready to follow orders."  
  
"But the granolith [I]can[/I] give us those answers?" Liz asked.  
  
"I believe so, yes," Grant replied.  
  
"So what are we waiting for then?" Michael demanded. "Tell us how to use it."  
  
"I can't tell you that," Grant said, beginning to sound impatient. "I told you that she's the one who knows how to use it." He indicated Tess, who was already staring at the granolith again, her blue eyes distant, as though she was trying to unlock the memories of how to make the machine work. Her brow was slightly furrowed and Max could tell that she wasn't making much progress. It made him wonder again why only some of Serena's memories were being unleashed by the wedding cloth. If Tess remembered who she was, why didn't she remember [I]everything[/I]? Max felt a slight flash of suspicion. He was trying to believe that Tess was now being completely honest with them - that she had merely been one of Nasedo's pawns too - but Liz as Serena had seemed to remember so much more.  
  
[I]Why[/I]?  
  
Max realized that now wasn't the time to worry about that though. He could tell that Grant's irritation with Michael was reaching the point where they might not be able to get any useful information out of him. ".don't want to hear what I have to say," the shapeshifter was saying, sounding offended. "I refuse to continue if I am going to be constantly interrupted."  
  
Max glared at Michael warningly. His best friend sighed heavily, rolled his eyes, but nodded, as though in agreement that he would let Max do the questioning. "We're sorry," Max said quickly. "Go ahead. Just tell us what you can. Start at the beginning maybe," he suggested. "Who are you? You said that you had to convince Nasedo to let you onto the ship? Why?"  
  
Grant frowned slightly. "Who am I? It is hard for me to tell you that as well." Max looked at Michael sharply, sure that was going to wind his friend up again. While he understood Michael's frustration and also wondered why Grant couldn't just tell them what they needed to know, they didn't want to alienate their only source of information either.  
  
Michael seemed to have gotten control of himself though. It likely didn't hurt that Maria was holding his arm, obviously ready to pinch him at the slightest provocation. Max smiled slightly to himself, turned to listen to Grant again.  
  
"You have to understand about what it means to be Wendarian," the shapeshifter continued. "Our entire existence is built into the ability to shapeshift, into the fact that we have no one form, that our only real identity is the fact that we can do it - that we are [I]Wendarian[/I]. In truth, we have no real identity. Our entire focus is supposed to be on the good of the planet. Identity brings selfishness and self-involvement, as all the political upheaval on the other four planets in our system demonstrated over the millennia."  
  
This last was said with such disdain, it made Max frown slightly. He looked at Kate, who was also scowling, as though insulted. The irony of Grant's statement about Wendarians not being self-involved was that they were quite clearly arrogant about that very fact. And arrogance was what self-involvement was all about.  
  
"You make it sound like the Wendarians wanted nothing to do with the other planets," Liz prompted, obviously having picked up on Grant's tone of voice as well. "But we know that your planet was allied to Max's."  
  
Grant looked at her, grimaced slightly. "I'll get back to that. First I must tell you a bit about the history of our system."  
  
"We know some already," Max told him. "Like Liz said, we know that Antar, Wendar and Knosis were all allied. We know that Rowena and Khivar's marriage meant that their two planets were allied as well. Courtney also told us that the basis of the war had something to do with tariffs?"  
  
"That's true," Grant acknowledged. "The problems began at a trade summit on Valonia. Zan's father sent him to mediate a dispute between Knosis and Sardica. The Knosians were trying to take over some very important trade routes between Antar and Knosis by claiming ownership and taxing any ship passing through from another planet. The Sardicans protested this and were in the right - the trade routes had always ever been under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal of the Five Planets and were open to all interplanetary traffic. It was a clumsy power play on the Knosians part, inspired by the fact that Zan was betrothed to Ava, the sister of the King of Knosis. They felt it gave them status and so they tried to make a little money off of it."  
  
"The Knosians obviously thought that Zan would side with them?" Tess asked. "I mean, he married Ava, didn't he?"  
  
"But he didn't want to," Max said quickly, wanting that out in the open right from the beginning. He knew that Liz didn't really care about all the destiny garbage anymore, but reinforcing that he hadn't wanted any part of a forced relationship, even in his past life, could only be a good thing. "Courtney told us that too," he added, reddening slightly when Tess raised her eyebrows at him. She didn't seem upset though. Actually, she appeared amused.  
  
"You're both right." Grant said. "Increasing Knosis's control of the shipping routes could only increase Zan's planet's own power upon their marriage, being as Ava was her brother's heir. This meant that, in reality, the shipping routes would become Antar's. In truth, the whole conference was supposed to be a sham. Zan's father never intended for him to mediate at all. He was supposed to go and rubber-stamp Knosis's control of the new markets, which meant that Sardica was going to have to pay heavy tariffs to ship anywhere in the system, greatly decreasing their influence. Zan's father was trying to break Sardica's firm hold on the economy of the system."  
  
"Zan didn't do that though," Kate interrupted. "I remember that trade conference. I was staying with Vilandra on Antar at the time. The king was really upset when he heard that Zan was going to rule on behalf of the Sardicans, keeping with the Tribunal's tradition and also rejecting Antar's covert play for supremacy. Vilandra told me at the time that her father thought that Zan was just being difficult because he wanted to ruin the alliance with Knosis so that he wouldn't have to marry Ava. We both knew that Zan would never do that though. He didn't play games like that. He just didn't think that so much power should be held on one planet, even if it [I]was[/I] his own. Antar already held the political influence through the high kingship. They didn't need to be the economic center as well. He and his father disagreed over it all the time."  
  
Max couldn't quite believe that he was finding all this talk about trade routes and tariffs so interesting, but he was. He had a feeling that it had more to do with the fact that Zan was beginning to sound kind of okay, at least at this point in time. It still didn't explain what happened to him later though. There was no question that something did, because Max still remembered with vivid clarity the flash he had gotten from Kate. His alter- ego had killed her in their past life. What had made him go from being a fair and just ruler to the monster Kate remembered now?  
  
"Indeed," Grant was agreeing. "Zan was honorable, knew what was right. He was going to rule for the Sardicans, jeopardizing the marriage alliance. His father intervened and ordered Zan away from the conference, insisting that he should think about what he was planning to do a little longer - that he needed privacy to reach his decision. The Sardicans knew what was in the air, but they agreed, hoping that Zan was going to be able to fight his father on this and win. They trusted him, in spite of the impending alliance with Knosis."  
  
"Oh my God."  
  
This came from Kate. Max looked at her sharply. Her face had whitened and she was staring at he and Liz. "What?" He demanded.  
  
"How could I have forgotten about this?" She moaned. "Alex and I already discussed this with Will - how there was no way that Zan and Rowena could have been together because they didn't ever meet alone. I totally forgot about all of this!"  
  
"About what?" Liz asked gently.  
  
"Zan went to Rowena's summer palace to make his decision. [I]That's[/I] when they met!" Kate shook her head. "That's when it happened."  
  
Max looked at Grant for confirmation. He was nodding. "That's what we all assume. Valonia had offered a neutral planet for the conference and they then offered Zan a neutral place to reach his verdict. He did go to the summer palace." He was frowning at Kate. "You remember some of this, but not everything?"  
  
"I guess so," Kate replied, sounding upset. "I've always believed that I remember everything, but the last couple of days have certainly proven me wrong about that."  
  
"The granolith just flashed you know." They all turned to look at Kyle, who was staring at the base of the cone. "I don't get why you people keep missing it, but it did. When Kate remembered that, it flashed." Max realized that most of them were standing with their back to the cone. Only Kyle and Grant were facing it directly.  
  
"Well, this only confirms that your pods [I]were[/I] damaged as well," Grant sighed. "The four squares were so closely linked, it always seemed strange that none of the others were affected by Rowena's failing as it did."  
  
"So we were supposed to remember?" Max asked.  
  
"I don't know that for sure," Grant admitted. "The Crash changed everything and I wasn't in on any of the planning sessions before you were sent. I was a glorified guard. I only found out what was really going on after everyone else was killed in the Crash because Nasedo needed me then." He looked at the granolith again, thoughtful now. "It would seem that all of your memories still exist within this machine though. That you will be able to access them. It is releasing them slowly now, but there must be a better way to control them."  
  
Max looked at Tess, who seemed upset, as though she wished she could be more helpful. "It's okay," he told her. "We'll figure it out."  
  
"So Zan went to Rowena's summer palace," Michael prompted impatiently.  
  
"He did," Grant agreed. "And he seemed to be taking an inordinately long amount of time to come to the decision his father wanted - the one he [I]knew[/I] he had to make. He was not high king yet. He was going to have to bend to his father's will. Everyone knew it and no one knew why he was taking so long to do it."  
  
"Rowena must have kept him busy," Kyle said. He smirked at Liz. "You must have been one hot chick Liz."  
  
Max rolled his eyes, but ignored Kyle because Maria smacked him, effectively shutting him up. Liz didn't seem insulted either, only exasperated, as she usually was by Kyle's sarcasm. Everyone knew by now that Kyle didn't really mean anything by his motor mouth. He just seemed incapable of controlling it sometimes. Max had a feeling it was one way his former nemesis dealt with stress.  
  
"We know now that it was Rowena, but, at the time everyone thought that he was just trying to annoy his father by taking forever to come to the decision everyone knew he had to," Grant continued, as though Kyle had not spoken. "He stayed on Valonia until he was called back to Antar when his father died suddenly. Needless to say, everyone expected that the ruling would come down quickly after that, that Zan would do what he had always wanted to do and side with Sardica. The system was hailing him as the fair and just Zan, who had refused to make a ruling while his father lived, that he had played his cards perfectly."  
  
"What I don't get is why Zan and Vilandra's father didn't just over-rule Zan. I mean, [I]he[/I] was high king. Zan was his heir. He could have done it," Kate stated.  
  
"The old king was stubborn, but he wasn't stupid. He was the one who had sent Zan. It had been a mistake, he had underestimated Zan's own stubborn streak. He couldn't back down, couldn't let his son make a decision that he felt undermined his own power. Yet, had he taken the power away from his son, many would have questioned Zan's ability to rule following his father's death. Any faction who wanted a chance at the throne would have seized on that, would have proclaimed Zan unfit. If the old king wanted his family to rule after his death, he was going to have to deal with his son because, while he might have passed over Zan in favor of Vilandra, Vilandra would never have accepted the throne while her brother still lived. She would have just passed it back to him when her father died. She and Rath were the epitome of loyal to Zan. The old king needed to make his son bow to his will, but he couldn't call him back either. It was stalemate."  
  
"But Zan didn't rule on behalf of Sardica," Kate said. "We all know that. He came back and ruled for Knosis."  
  
"That is what happened," Grant acknowledged. "No one knew then that Zan was a totally changed man. He ruled against the Sardicans and by the time he left Valonia, war was unavoidable."  
  
Max felt a twinge of guilt. "So Zan ruled against Sardica because he was jealous of Khivar and Rowena?"  
  
"One assumes so now," Grant shrugged. "But no one thought so at the time. You must understand that all of this only came out after your deaths, when it was revealed how wide a web of jealousy and hate had been woven between all the players. No one knew about Zan and Rowena. As far as anyone knew, Rowena married Khivar."  
  
"That makes [I]no[/I] sense," Tess said. Max looked at her, surprised. "It doesn't Max. Why would Zan be jealous? We already know that it wasn't Rowena who went to marry Khivar. It was Serena. Zan and Rowena obviously made that decision together. He had no reason to be jealous."  
  
Max blinked. He felt Liz squeezing his hand, looked down at her. "No guilt. Tess has to be right. And remember what we said before. We can't change what happened. We just need to [I]know[/I] what happened."  
  
"Sorry," he muttered. He realized that it was possible to feel guilty about feeling guilty, but decided to suppress that too. Liz was right after all. Feeling guilty didn't change things. It only delayed fixing them. He looked back at Grant. "So then what happened?"  
  
"The war started," Grant replied. "It did look like maybe it could be resolved fairly quickly. In the end, the decision about the trade routes [I]was[/I] Antar's to make, and so the Sardicans' war was illegal. But, then, out of nowhere, Zan sent the Sky Army to destroy Valonia."  
  
Max felt his stomach clench. He looked at Michael. "Courtney told us about this," he said, having to clear his throat first. "Rath tried to defend him by blaming it on Khivar."  
  
"Rath knew Zan better than anyone," Grant said grimly. "Rath was right that Zan was not the one who ordered the strike - at least not the Zan [I]he[/I] knew. But he was wrong to accuse Khivar."  
  
"Do you know what happened to Zan?" Liz asked. She was clutching Max's hand tightly. "Why did he do that?"  
  
"Haven't you figured it out by now?" Grant asked. "It's so obvious." He looked at Tess, then back at Liz. "What does the granolith do Liz?"  
  
Max frowned. What does the granolith do? What does the granolith have to do with.  
  
And, abruptly, he understood. He couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it before. It was the only thing that made any sense with Kate's memories of what Zan had been like before and after the trade summit. No one could change [I]that[/I] much in such a short amount of time. Jealousy might have been an explanation, but Tess had been right. Zan had no reason to be jealous. Khivar was [I]not[/I] married to Rowena.  
  
Max felt the flash of understanding from Liz as she too grasped what the shapeshifter was telling them. "Oh my God. It [I]wasn't[/I] Zan at all, was it?"  
  
"It was not," Grant replied. "Do you truly believe that Zan and Rowena would just separate after all the effort they had made to be together? Neither of them really wanted to rule their planets anyway. Rowena was obsessed with science, invention and Zan. She didn't have time to reign. And, after meeting Rowena, Zan was too obsessed with her to even do his duty by Antar any longer. They did everything in their power to avoid their destinies, even sending Serena to replace Rowena. Why would they stop there?"  
  
Max could feel his heart thudding in his chest. "So you're saying that there were two Zans? And somehow the one they sent to rule Antar was defective?"  
  
This was worse than anything he could have possibly imagined. Zan and Rowena had left their planets at the mercy of a madman - a crazy version of Zan himself - because they had wanted to be together. How could they have been so selfish? He could feel Liz's hand trembling in his. She understood exactly what this meant too.  
  
Their selfish love had destroyed an entire planet. Valonia had been destroyed because of them.  
  
Grant snorted. His disgust was obvious. "Not just two Zans."  
  
"Wait a minute!" Kyle interrupted. "I thought you said that it was [I]Serena[/I] who invented the granolith? But you just said that it was Rowena who was the scientist."  
  
It was Kate who spoke up at this. "They were both scientists," she said quietly. "This is why we never knew that Rowena had a sister. She didn't."  
  
"What?" Michael demanded. "Are you saying they're [I]not[/I] sisters?"  
  
Max stared at Kate as he realized what she was getting at. [I] Not just two[/I] Zans,[/I] Grant had said.  
  
"They weren't sisters," he continued for Kate, looking down at Liz, unsure how she was going to take this. He was still in shock that he and Liz could have been so completely cavalier about throwing away their thrones for each other and placing sub-standard versions of themselves in their places. They had doomed Valonia and the five planets had been in turmoil ever since. "They were the same person," he managed to say, past the lump in his throat. "That's why Liz was affected by Serena's wedding cloth."  
  
"Serena wasn't Rowena's twin," Grant agreed. "She was her clone."  
  
To be continued. 


	36. Chapter 36

[u]Part 36[/u]  
  
Liz could not tear her eyes away from Tess.  
  
It could not be true. How could it be possible that they were both clones of the same person? How could they [I]be[/I] the same person?  
  
Logically, it made sense though. After all, Max had been attracted to both of them. Grant had explained why they looked different. Her pod had been damaged in the Crash, and he had been forced to replace Liz's human DNA at some point during the cloning process.  
  
But, she had just started to accept that she and Tess were sisters. How could she accept that they were, essentially, one girl?  
  
Tess was staring at her too, a slight frown on her pretty face. Liz could almost see the wheels turning in her head, as she too tried to absorb this news. She felt her heart go out to the small blonde. In a way, Tess's world was in even more upheaval than Liz's was after these revelations. First of all, she was no longer Ava, the person she had always been told she was. Her connection to Max - a defining principle of her life - had been irrevocably severed by Grant's story. Finally, she had to accept that, not only was she Liz's sister, she was most likely Liz's clone.  
  
Not even [I]that[/I]. Tess was a [I]clone[/I] of Liz's clone.  
  
It was so ridiculous it was enough to make Liz want to burst out laughing. She felt like she had entered a nightmare, that if she bent even a little bit, she was going to lose it again and, this time, not even Max would be able to pull her back.  
  
And, yet, she knew that wasn't true. Max was her grounding force. He was holding her together right now in fact, grasping her hand tightly, gently rubbing the back of it with his thumb. Calming her. Helping her to think straight.  
  
Yes, she was certainly luckier than Tess.  
  
But, in the end, Tess proved to be the stronger of the two of them anyway. When she finally opened her mouth to speak, after everyone else had stopped their exclamations of shock, Liz had absolutely no clue what her sister - Liz decided to keep thinking of the other girl that way, being as Rowena had done so - was going to say. She knew though that what she heard was the last thing she expected.  
  
"I don't believe it."  
  
"What?" Grant said, looking at her. "It's not a matter of believing it or not Tess. It's what happened."  
  
Tess shook her head impatiently. "No, not about that," she corrected. "I believe that Serena and Rowena were clones. I remember Rowena as my sister, but I believe that it might have been true. It explains a lot actually - why Khivar accepted Serena with absolutely no suspicion, why Rowena would have trusted Serena so completely to take her place, why no one knew Rowena had a sister in the first place."  
  
"Then what don't you believe?" Kyle asked. Liz's ex-boyfriend had gone to stand near Tess, as though he too had understood that she had no one to support her through any of this. Liz felt again how truly lucky she was as she glanced around. Maria, her best friend, still looked shell-shocked, but could certainly be counted on should Liz need her. Liz was pretty sure that even Michael would comfort her before he would Tess. And she had Max. Her beloved Max, who believed in her more than she believed in herself.  
  
"I don't buy that Rowena and Zan were so selfish," Tess told him, her voice firm. "I [I]remember[/I] both of them." Seeing Michael perk up at this, she elaborated quickly, "I mean, I don't remember everything. But I remember [I]who[/I] they were. There is no way they would have turned their backs on their planets so selfishly." She turned to Kate for support. "You remember them too. At least, partly. Do you believe this?"  
  
Kate sighed. "I don't know what to believe anymore." She thought for a moment, then continued slowly, "But my gut is telling me that Tess is right. I know what I remembered before all this started coming out. That kind of behavior doesn't sound like the Zan I knew - at first anyway. Before he killed me," she added wryly. But Liz could tell that she was almost joking about it now. She was no longer scared of Max. "Or Ro either," she added, smiling at Liz.  
  
"It really just doesn't make sense," Tess stated. "I mean, we're all essentially the same. Circumstance and experience have molded us into slightly different people, but our characters aren't so different from what they were before. How could Zan and Rowena have become Max and Liz? I mean, it's impossible!" She looked directly at Liz, swallowed. "You are the least selfish person I know Liz. You've given up the person you most love in the world at least twice at my last count. I just can't believe that Rowena wouldn't have done the same." She looked at Grant. "You must be wrong."  
  
Grant shrugged. "I know what I know. There is no question that Serena was Rowena's clone and she ended up married to Khivar. And it wasn't Zan on the throne of Antar following his father's death either. There is no question about that. It's why Vilandra fled Antar. She just [I]knew[/I] it wasn't her brother. But she didn't buy Rath's explanation either."  
  
"And Rath's explanation was what?" Michael asked.  
  
"That it was a shapeshifter," Grant replied. He looked away. "A shapeshifter under Khivar's control. Not that he wasn't entirely justified in thinking that. Rath suspected the truth about Wendar long before anyone else."  
  
Liz frowned, looked at Max. His next question seemed to indicate that he was thinking exactly along the same lines she was. "I think it's time for you to tell us exactly how your people got involved in this mess," he told Grant. "For a race that supposedly didn't care about the rest of the system, they seem to be up to their necks in all of it"  
  
"Trusted enough to be sent as our protectors," Michael put in, scowling at Grant again. "But like I said before, it seems that protection is about the farthest thing from what either you or Nasedo has tried to do on this planet."  
  
"My goal has always been your protection," Grant insisted. "I told you that any actions to the contrary since then have been simply to keep myself alive to continue to do so. Before leaving Antar, I swear I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. Everything I did back then was because I was ordered to do so. I just did it - no questions asked, no wondering why. I tried to explain to you what it means to be Wendarian. We do not have free will, do not make our own choices. But, in the end, I had my own reasons for wanting to come along that had nothing to do with Wendar."  
  
"Which were what?" Michael demanded suspiciously.  
  
But Liz was watching Grant's face while he spoke and, she for one, thought she knew. "Love," she said quietly.  
  
Grant jerked slightly, looked at Liz. His expression relaxed though and he nodded. "Love."  
  
"Love of who?" This came again from Michael, who was obviously still so annoyed at Grant, he wasn't thinking straight. Because, it was so obvious. But, then, Rath had quite clearly been blind in their last life too, Liz thought wryly. He had seen the Wendarians for what they really were, but had missed something even closer to home.  
  
"Vilandra," Liz said. She tilted her head, staring at Grant, but knew she was right. "It was Vilandra, wasn't it?"  
  
"Yes." Grant lowered his gaze. "I came to protect her."  
  
"Oh Lord." Liz looked at Michael sharply. He was rolling his eyes at Max. "I knew there was a reason I hated this guy. He was making time with my wife."  
  
"Michael!" Maria exclaimed, smacking him lightly, but Liz could tell she wasn't really upset. "I'm standing right here!"  
  
"Ow," was all Michael said, but put his arm around Maria, demonstrating that what Grant felt for Isabel really meant nothing to him now.  
  
"Rath didn't love Vilandra," Grant said defensively. "Nor did she love him."  
  
"That's not true," Kate spoke up. "They loved each other. They just weren't [I]in[/I] love. They grew up together. It was more of a brother/sister type thing. Like it obviously is now."  
  
"Fine," Grant admitted. "She did love him. But she was destined for so much more. She deserved so much more. And I was there to provide it."  
  
"Lucky her," Michael muttered. Max snorted. Liz sighed. Poor Isabel. For the first time ever, Liz was glad she didn't have brothers. Glancing at Tess, she smiled slightly. But it was going to be nice to have a sister. Even if no one else could ever know.  
  
"But what about Khivar?" Asked Kyle. "I thought he was the one screwing around with Vilandra?"  
  
"Nice Kyle." Maria shook her head. "Screwing around? Nice image there."  
  
"Whatever." Kyle rolled his eyes too. "Wasn't he? That's what the midget said in that message - and isn't he Khivar's right-hand man? Sort of like you were to Max? You'd think he'd know." He said this to Michael, who shrugged, his arms crossed, obviously annoyed by the whole idea of Vilandra with [I]anyone[/I].  
  
"Well, apparently no one was being very open with what was going on," Kate reminded him. "Rath knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what exactly."  
  
"That's true," Grant replied. "And I can explain about Khivar." They all looked at him. He sighed. "To my eternal shame, my original intentions towards Vilandra were not entirely honourable. Like I said, I was following orders at the beginning."  
  
Liz understood what he was getting at almost immediately. "You're a shapeshifter. You pretended to be Khivar, didn't you?"  
  
He closed his eyes briefly, then nodded. "Yes."  
  
"But why?" She asked gently. "What were the Wendarians hoping to accomplish?"  
  
"They were creating chaos," Kate said, shaking her head in dismay. "It's the only answer. They sent him to Vilandra, pretending to be Khivar, made her fall in love with him, to drive her away from Zan."  
  
Liz felt Max's anger before he spoke. She squeezed his hand warningly. She understood though. If there was one way to really rile either Max or Michael, it was by messing with Isabel. She guessed now that it had always been that way. "Is that true?" He demanded. Liz glanced across the chamber at Michael. She could see that Maria was clutching his arm just as tightly as she was holding onto Max.  
  
"It's true," Grant said quietly. "We worked in the shadows, dividing alliances, breaking long-standing bonds. The whole trade route fiasco was the first attempt to sow discontent within the system. Wendar had a secret alliance with Knosis, prodded them into doing it, in an attempt to put Antar and Sardica at odds. They were the two most powerful planets. Wendar did not have the resources to take on either on their own. My planet needed them to destroy each other."  
  
"But Zan ruined that by siding with Sardica at the trade conference," Liz guessed.  
  
"My leaders did not understand Zan," Grant replied. "They thought he would be as easily manipulated as his father. It was the old king's Wendarian advisors who made him uneasy about Sardica's power. They arranged the alliance with Knosis, through the betrothal. But Zan was not nearly as suspicious. He had personal ties to the princess of Sardica, ties that his father had never bothered with." He looked at Kate meaningfully. "As long as he trusted Khivar, and Khivar trusted him, there would be no rift. Karana became Khivar's closest advisor. Her relationship with Zan and Vilandra meant that they would have worked it out somehow."  
  
"But Wendar wanted to bring down both Antar and Sardica so that they could pick up the pieces and take control of the system. They had to break those ties," Liz continued. She was listening to Grant still, but also trying to understand what the motives could have been for creating such disharmony in a perfectly ordered society. Was it really all just about something as petty as one planet being jealous of two others?  
  
"Basically," Grant agreed. "They tried politically first, with the trade embargo. But, as I said, Zan's waffling at the conference meant that Knosis could no longer be used as a pawn. So they sent me instead. I went to Antar while Zan was at Rowena's summer palace - as Khivar." He paused, then sighed. "And I made her fall in love with me."  
  
Liz looked at Kate. "Do you remember any of this?"  
  
She frowned. "I don't remember my brother coming to Antar. I was there during the conference. Zan sent me home when he returned. But it might be possible."  
  
"I played on Vilandra's vanity," Grant continued, as though he hadn't been interrupted. "I told her that she was the only one who could fix things - that she had to convince her brother to side with us. That if she didn't, the only recourse we had was war. She was lonely. Rath was always gone, off commanding the Sky Army. They weren't even married yet." He looked at Michael, glaring slightly, as though disbelieving that anyone who had a claim to Vilandra could have been so stupid as to not marry her right away.  
  
"You really fell in love with her," Liz said.  
  
Grant simply nodded. They were all silent after this, as though trying to absorb the enormity of Wendar's perfidy. It was almost incomprehensible to Liz that so much real love could have emerged from so much hate. Because Wendar's covert interference had brought people together who likely never would have even met. Zan and Rowena. Vilandra and.well, whoever Grant's name had been then.  
  
Finally Grant spoke again. "She was unlike anyone I had ever known. So open, so loving.always wanting to do what was right. She was torn apart by her loyalty to Rath, but she loved me too."  
  
"But you lied to her," Kate snapped. "It wasn't [I]really[/I] you at all. You were pretending to be my brother."  
  
"Why do you think I'm here now?" Grant demanded. "Why do you think I came to this hellish place? To make amends for that. To show her that I truly loved her, no matter who I was. To show her that I love her still."  
  
"By lying to her [I]again[/I]," Michael put in fiercely. "By pretending to be human."  
  
"She isn't Vilandra anymore," Max added. "She is Isabel. She won't be tricked again."  
  
Grant looked right at him. "Maybe not. But she [I]will[/I] be saved. I will not allow anything to happen to her this time. Which is one reason for why I've come to you all now. Because [I]he[/I] has endangered her and I will no longer play his games."  
  
There was another long silence after this. Finally, Maria said tentatively, "What [I]did[/I] happen? How did they all die?"  
  
"Vilandra and Karana were all killed by the cloned Zan," Grant replied in a monotone. "They had come to Antar to free who they believed was Rowena. She was being held captive by the clone, taken when she'd gone to parlay for peace."  
  
"My question is, why didn't the [I]real[/I] Khivar ever tell Vilandra the truth?" Tess asked. "If she switched sides, she must have found out that you weren't who you said you were."  
  
"It was war," Grant told her. "Khivar [I]did[/I] use her in the end. He was desperate to save his wife," he added, when Kate looked ready to speak up to defend her brother. "Vilandra showed up on Sardica with her personal army and the ability to get them onto Antar. My guess is that Vilandra never revealed anything about her feelings to Karana. She would have been open with Khivar alone. He used her obvious love for him - probably having figured out what had happened by then - and made a play to reclaim Rowena through her."  
  
"Who wasn't Rowena at all," Tess added. "That would have been Serena."  
  
"Yes," Grant agreed.  
  
"The real question is, where were Zan and Rowena all this time?" Kate asked. She looked at Tess. "I think Tess was right before. I just don't believe that they would have given up their thrones. After all, they were both betrothed, but they weren't married. Zan was the high king. In the end, he could have taken what he wanted. It would have been scandalous had they deserted their fiancés for each other, but it wouldn't have been illegal."  
  
"Not to mention, even if they had secretly replaced themselves," Liz said, "I just can't believe that they would have sat back and watched the entire system go to war, when they could have stopped it. It sounds like the clone Zan was the [I]real[/I] problem. If the real Zan had emerged, it all could have been fixed."  
  
They all looked at Grant. He sighed. "I cannot tell you any of that. I played no role on Valonia. When it came to my own people, I went where I was told, until the very end, when I managed to talk myself onto the mission to Earth."  
  
"Which begs the question," Kyle said. "How did no one ever figure out that the Wendarians were behind it all?"  
  
"As I said," Grant answered. "I think that, by the end, Khivar did know. But, at that point, he was so furious about that fact that his wife had been taken captive, he wasn't thinking straight. He despised Zan. Rath was the only one who ever believed that the Zan on Antar wasn't the [I]real[/I] Zan. He was laughed right out of the Tribunal of the Five Planets with that accusation."  
  
"Which was why the Wendarians were sent with us," Max guessed. "As far as Serena was concerned, they were the only neutral party in the system. The only ones who could be trusted."  
  
Liz sighed. "Irony at its most tragic."  
  
"So was that what Serena was trying to do?" Kate asked Grant. "Did she send us here so that we could all come together and return united, with all that history behind us?"  
  
"I really don't know what Serena intended at all," Grant told her. "But it seems logical. Unfortunately, sending a Wendarian contingent of guards meant that the mission was doomed to fail from the start."  
  
"But fate intervened," Liz reminded him. "The Crash happened. And Nasedo lost control of half the pods."  
  
Grant smiled slightly. "He did. Which is why I've been on the run from him for fifty years. I didn't want to have to tell him where I'd hidden my half of the loot." He paused, then added. "But, while the Crash was helpful in some small way, it meant that you were all separated. Also, the fact that your pod was damaged," he looked at Liz as he said this, "meant that they were all compromised. I believe that is why no one's memories are intact."  
  
"God." Liz looked at Max. He was shaking his head. "I can't believe how close we came to never finding Liz." He put his arm around her shoulder. "It was all completely based on luck, wasn't it? If the shooting hadn't happened."  
  
"And if you call that lucky, you're crazy," Maria interrupted. "I was there, remember? She almost died."  
  
"I would have revealed the truth eventually," Grant assured them. "But the shooting did help to speed up the process because it showed that Liz could deal with the idea of aliens."  
  
"I thought you said that I had to figure it out on my own," Liz said, annoyed at him now. "That you couldn't have told me."  
  
"As long as Nasedo didn't know where you were, there was no need, nor any rush. I mean, it's not like there's a ship waiting out there to take you back." Grant shrugged. "The shooting changed all that too."  
  
"I think we would have figured it out eventually anyway." This came from Michael. Liz looked at him surprised. He shrugged. "Maxwell knew who you were all along Liz. It was only a matter of time before he did something to bring you into this." He rolled his eyes. "I lived with his mooning for ten years. I'm telling you, it would have happened." He grinned slightly. "I'm just glad that I never had to kill him to prevent it."  
  
"Yeah, thanks for that Michael," Max muttered. Liz looked at him. His face was a dull shade of red. Smiling, Liz kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"Thank [I]you[/I]," she whispered.  
  
"For what?" Max asked, surprised.  
  
"For loving me."  
  
"Okay, enough with the mushy stuff!" Kyle exclaimed. "Puh-lease!"  
  
Max cleared his throat. "Sorry." He paused, as though trying to figure out where to go next. "Is that all you can tell us?" He finally asked Grant. "Is there anything else we need to know?"  
  
"I don't think there is anything more I can tell you," Grant replied.  
  
"Where does Nasedo think you are?" Liz asked him. "I can't believe I just thought of this, but is it safe for you to be here? I mean, you've gone out of your way to make him believe you're on his side. Why the sudden change?"  
  
"Because he's making his final plans," Grant told her grimly. "He already has three of you locked up. It's just a matter of time before he gets the rest of you. You need to know what you're dealing with here."  
  
"Wait a minute!" Tess interrupted. "There's still so much we don't know! We need to figure out what happened to Zan and Rowena!"  
  
"I can't tell you that," Grant insisted. "You'll have to depend on the granolith for those answers. It will provide them in its own time." He looked directly at Tess. "Or when you figure out how to make it work."  
  
Tess sighed. "I just don't remember."  
  
"Well, in the meantime, we need to concentrate on Nasedo anyway," Max assured her. "We need to end this once and for all here on Earth. The rest can be dealt with later."  
  
"That's why I'm here," Grant agreed. "Now that he knows who you all are, he's planning to use you as hostages to gain control of the Antarian throne."  
  
"But what about the essence sucking?" Kate asked. "Why is he doing that?"  
  
"To control you of course," Grant replied. "Your alien essences make you who you are. Without them, you are lost. You may not remember who you were entirely, but you [I]know[/I] inherently within."  
  
"Okay, hold it!" Michael held up his hands. "What's this about essence sucking?"  
  
Liz was just as confused as Michael. They hadn't heard anything about this. What were Kate and Grant talking about?  
  
Kate grimaced. "Oh, did I forget to mention that?" She quickly explained about how both Isabel and Jack had been somehow made completely human.  
  
"Who wouldn't forget something like that?" Kyle asked the group at large when she was done. "I mean, what's a little alien essence stealing among friends?"  
  
"Kyle," Liz said warningly. "Kate had enough on her mind when she came here. It's no wonder she forgot." She looked at Grant. "Is there any way to fix this?"  
  
He nodded. "The granolith holds your alien essences in perpetuity. You will all continue to live on within it, as long as it is functional."  
  
"So what you're saying is, I could kill the king right now and you could bring him back?" Kyle asked, glancing at Max with a grin on his face.  
  
"Kyle!" Liz exclaimed. She looked up at Max, who was just shaking his head and sighing.  
  
"I'm just kidding Liz. I can't help how my brain works. I say these things before I think how they might sound. I meant to say that I could kill [I]any[/I] of you.well, except Maria of course."  
  
"Kyle, shut up," Tess ordered.  
  
"And count to ten before speaking. [I]Every[/I] time," Maria snapped, her tone threatening. "Or it will be you who will need some reviving." She paused. "Oh wait.You don't [I]have[/I] that option." She glared at him.  
  
"I don't need your stupid granolith. I have Buddha," Kyle replied, but he meekly took a step backwards so that he was half-hidden behind Tess, who was now rolling her eyes.  
  
"Yes," Grant replied, looking at Kyle as though he thought he might be half- insane. Liz thought he might be right. "We'd only need some human DNA to reincarnate him."  
  
"So what you're saying is that we need to bring Isabel and Jack here to heal them," Max asked. "And that in order to do that, we need to take care of Nasedo first."  
  
"That's what I'm saying."  
  
They all looked at each other.  
  
Finally, Michael broke the silence, after holding Maria's wrist close to his face and looking at her watch. "Well, it's the middle of the night. What better time for a jailbreak?"  
  
Liz sighed. She felt Max pull her more closely against his chest, took momentary comfort. But, her mind would not stop. If only it could be as simple as Michael made it sound.  
  
But, she knew, that it wouldn't be. Nasedo had waited two generations to take control of the Antarian system. He was going to have planned for every eventuality. A raid to rescue their friends? They were likely just walking into a trap.  
  
Yet, she didn't see that they had any choice. The eight of them had been brought to Earth for a reason. It was time to reunite them all and find out exactly what it was. And, the only way to make that happen was to confront their greatest enemy. Now.  
  
Even if, she knew deep down, they weren't anywhere near ready.  
  
To be continued. 


	37. Chapter 37

[u]Part 37[/u]  
  
"This is just completely unbelievable," Isabel said, shaking her blonde head. "God Alex! How can this all be true?"  
  
"We don't know for sure that any of it's true," Alex replied. "A lot of it Kate and I figured out from her memories, some of which she doesn't even trust anymore. Some of it is conjecture based on what's happened over the past twenty-four hours. All we know for sure is that we're sitting here and Max, Liz and the others are out there somewhere. And that we're all in big trouble."  
  
It had taken longer than Alex had expected to tell Isabel and Jack everything that was going on. Will had let Alex do most of the talking, admitting at one point that he had been too wrapped up in the fact that Liz was Rowena to try and understand what was going on around him. Of course, Isabel had left the Crashdown before it had even come out that Liz was really just as alien as she was, and, so, this had come as one of the biggest shocks of all to his friend.  
  
"But how could we not have known?" Isabel asked, shaking her head. "How could we not have known that Liz was one of us? We've always recognized each other. I knew Michael right away. I knew Tess. I mean, Max even told me he knew Kate when he first saw her, and I recognized both of you in the hallway at school." She looked at Will as she said this, a little shyly if Alex was not mistaken. He frowned slightly. He had very briefly mentioned what Nasedo, disguised as Nicholas, had said in the ransom message about her having been Khivar's lover in their past lives. He wondered what his friend was feeling now that she knew that Will [I]was[/I] Khivar - the great love Congresswoman Whittaker had told her about. The great love for whom she was supposed to betray her brothers and friends  
  
The great love whose great love was someone else.  
  
Alex narrowed his eyes slightly. Will was just too damn good-looking. Alex trusted him now - he wasn't quite sure if that mean he liked him yet - but damn his tortured blue eyes. He didn't think it would take long for Isabel to like the idea that maybe she was destined for the young, heart-broken king. Whatever flirtation Grant had provided, the news that he was working for Nasedo hadn't seemed to affect her unduly. It was still Tess's betrayal which had upset her most. Isabel Evans was ripe for the picking.  
  
It wasn't that he was jealous. He was past that. He knew that Isabel wasn't the girl for him. He hadn't totally analyzed [I]why[/I] he knew this yet - there hadn't really been time lately after all. He knew it had something to do with Kate, but he wasn't jumping to conclusions about that either. He had seen [I]Speed[/I] and he'd seen that dud [I]Speed 2[/I]. He knew that feelings arising from life-threatening circumstances were not necessarily to be trusted. But he did know that there was something there to be explored with Kate, if they managed to get out of this alive.  
  
This wasn't about Kate at all though. Isabel was still one of his best friends. She was vulnerable, particularly now that she no longer really knew who she was. The last thing she needed right now was to be hurt even more than she had been already. Will was not available. He was in love with Liz. Just because Liz wasn't in love with him, it didn't mean he could just turn his feelings off. If he did, then Alex would be even [I]more[/I] suspicious of him.  
  
And, so, he waited distrustfully for Will to answer, willing him to be careful with his words, if only for once.  
  
"We don't really know," Will replied, shrugging. Well, not encouraging necessarily, but certainly not mean, Alex reflected, relaxing. The alien king did not seem at all adverse to talking to Isabel - not like he'd been with Max at all. The fact that Vilandra had been trusted and admired by Khivar in their past lives, if not necessarily loved, seemed true. "Obviously she was taken from her pod early," Will continued. "Maybe that affected it."  
  
"And Max always knew her," Alex reminded Isabel.  
  
She nodded pensively. "I guess he did."  
  
They all sat quietly for a long moment. It gave Alex the chance to look around the large cavern in which their cages sat. The guards were still on the other side of the room, not seeming alarmed by the fact that they were all talking freely now. "I wonder what happened to Nasedo and Grant," he said off-handedly to the others. "We haven't seen either of them in hours."  
  
"Do you think they've gone after the others?" Isabel asked, her concern obvious.  
  
At this, Jack spoke up. Alex looked at him sharply. It was the first time Will's cousin had said two words since they had started discussing any of this. "I don't think they're in any hurry," he said quietly. "They've known where to find us all for weeks. I think they know that the others will come for us here."  
  
"I told Kate to keep them away," Alex muttered.  
  
Jack looked at him, with an eyebrow raised. "Do you know how they died before?"  
  
"Not really," Alex replied. He felt Isabel still nearby. "I know that Kate thinks that Max killed her."  
  
Jack lowered his eyes, glancing at Isabel quickly before doing so. "I don't know if I should tell you this."  
  
"You have to," Isabel insisted. "Max couldn't have done that. Even in another life. He just couldn't have. He wouldn't hurt a fly."  
  
"Maybe that's true now," Jack allowed. "But I know what I know. I was there."  
  
"Did Zan kill you too?" Alex asked before thinking. He mentally kicked himself when Isabel gasped.  
  
"Yes," Jack replied quietly. "I shouldn't have brought this up, but it's the reason that I know that Ro and Kate will come for us. It's just in Kate's nature, and so will Ro, because of what happened before. She will come."  
  
"Why? Why would Liz want to come for you?" Isabel asked. "She doesn't even really know you!"  
  
"Not just me. You too Vilandra," Jack told her. "We all went. You, Kate and I. When Ro was captured by Zan, we went after her. And he killed us all. She may have forgotten it, but, deep down, she knows. She will come for us."  
  
There was another long silence. Then Alex said, "They would come anyway." He sighed, looked at Isabel. "We know it Iz."  
  
"I know," Isabel said. "And they're all walking right into a trap." She reached out and shook her cage in frustration. "If only I could dreamwalk! I would go to Max right now, tell him to keep Liz away from here. Because it's Liz they want, isn't it? It's why he never came for us before. I mean, he knew where we all were."  
  
"You're right," Will agreed. "Nasedo knew who had us, and they've known where you all were for months. They left us alone because they were still looking for Rowena. It would have been too big a pain to hold us for this long. They never would have found her though. Not if Jack hadn't."  
  
"How [I]did[/I] you do that anyway?" Alex asked curiously. "I don't think I'm really clear on what your gift is."  
  
Jack leaned back against the bars of his cage, ran a hand through his blond hair. His movements were jerky, slightly pained, as though his internal hurt over the loss of his alien essence - the same pain Isabel was struggling to control Alex knew - was manifesting itself physically. "It's kind of hard to explain."  
  
"Basically," Will continued for him, when it seemed that Jack had said all he was going to, "He can identify aliens by their essences. He can feel the part of them that makes them different from humans. And they're all different - unique. When we went to Copper Summit to see the Harvest's destruction, he managed to pick up a sort of essence trail from Rowena..Liz," he modified quickly, as though he was now truly determined to only think of her by that name.  
  
Because, as long as she was Liz, the fact that she did not love him probably didn't hurt as much, Alex reflected, feeling a pang of sympathy. He could understand the attempt. After all, it had taken him [I]months[/I] to understand and, then, accept, that just because you were in love with someone else, it didn't automatically mean that they were going to feel the same way.  
  
He glanced at Isabel, who was still frowning, although apparently not for the reason he was. "So none of the Skins ever suspected who Liz was when we were in Copper Summit?"  
  
"Her essence is quieter than any alien I have ever encountered," Jack told her. "She is mostly human. Even more human than she should be having come out of the pod early. I mean, she should still be half and half. That's how she was cloned. I can't figure that out."  
  
"No, it's obvious why none of them ever guessed," Will agreed. "Nicholas had no idea until Jack felt her. He knew her well in our past lives. It wasn't difficult for him to pick it up."  
  
Isabel cringed visibly at the mention of Nicholas. "I can't believe Nicholas works for you," she said with a shudder. "He's absolutely horrible."  
  
"Please try and remember that it wasn't he who tortured you. That was Nasedo," Jack reminded her gently. "Nicholas is not bad. He is merely frustrated by the fact that our people are dying and there is nothing he can do about it."  
  
"I wonder what happened to him, anyway," Alex said. He reached through the bars separating him from Isabel and picked up her hand, stroking it comfortingly. "He was with us when Tess made that bomb go off."  
  
"I hope he's all right," Will said grimly. "He's our only means of connection to our home planet."  
  
"To the other Khivar," Alex reminded himself quietly. "I still don't get why the eight of you were sent together if the Khivar back on Antar still hates Zan. That's one thing that will never make any sense to me."  
  
"I guess the only way we'll ever figure out what's going on is if we find out who sent us here, and why," Isabel stated. "God! It seems like anytime we get any answers, we only end up with more questions."  
  
"You're not the only one princess. I too grow impatient waiting for answers I should have had weeks ago."  
  
Alex grimaced. As he was still holding her hand, he felt a spasm run through Isabel at the sound of the voice. He turned his head to see Nasedo walking swiftly towards them, his expression blank, but his eyes flashing with something that made a flash of pure fear run down his spine. It did not help matters that the shape-shifter no longer looked like Ed Harding either.  
  
Not that Ed Harding was particularly reassuring. But this new form was not an improvement.  
  
For some reason, Nasedo had taken on the guise of Daniel Pierce again. [I]Agent[/I] Pierce. Handsome, charming Agent Pierce, who was most well- known to them for torturing Max.  
  
Wonderful.  
  
"On your feet Mr. Whitman."  
  
Alex's eyes widened. "Why me?" He asked, embarrassed when it came out as more of a squeak than the firm tone he was trying for. But, it was a valid question, he knew. After all, he was the only one of the four prisoners who wasn't an alien. What could Nasedo possibly want with him?  
  
Only one thing. There was only one thing he could possibly want. And his next words confirmed it.  
  
"Because killing you just might get me the answers I want." Nasedo motioned behind him. "Bring him," he commanded the guards on his heels. "I'll be in the interrogation chamber."  
  
Isabel's grip on his hand had become like steel. "Leave him alone!" She exclaimed, struggling to her feet along with Alex, obviously refusing to let go of him. He felt a slight warming in his heart, but not enough to melt the ice that had taken root in his veins.  
  
He looked at Will, who was on his feet as well. His jaw was clenched, as though he was unwilling to dignify Nasedo's threat with a response though. Will understood more quickly than Alex did it seemed. Because it was only now that it made sense.  
  
He was a pawn. Nasedo was threatening to kill him to emotionally blackmail the rest of them.  
  
But maybe it wasn't merely a threat. Maybe he was actually going to do it to remind them all of what could happen to them if he didn't get his way.  
  
For one, brief moment, he remembered his vow from the day before. Had it only been that long? It felt like years. He remembered his determination that he was going to escape the alien abyss before it dragged him down for good. He had feared that something like this might happen to him if he allowed himself to stay connected to these people - to Isabel and his old friends; to Kate and his new ones.  
  
One look at the absolute terror on Isabel's face as she struggled to hold him to her, as he felt his fingers slipping from her grasp, and he knew that he had never been meant to escape.  
  
This was his life now. And he wouldn't change anything. The expression on Isabel Evans' face made it worth it.  
  
He would not let the shape-shifter use him this way. If he was going to die, it was going to be quickly and it was going to be without it resulting in his friends' even greater peril.  
  
First, he needed to calm Isabel down.  
  
"It's all right Izzy," he said. "I'm going to be all right." He looked over his shoulder at the two guards, who were still trying to manhandle him. "I'm coming. Just give me a sec." They backed off slightly, but not far.  
  
He moved close to Isabel again. "I [I]will[/I] be back," he told her firmly.  
  
"Alex, no! You can't go."  
  
"Isabel, if I don't go, they'll kill me right here. I've managed to stay alive this long. I swear I'll be okay. I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve." He reached out and touched her face. Her dark eyes met his. They were bright with tears.  
  
"I will come back. I still have to see how Star Wars comes out. I mean, I can't die now. Can you imagine if [I]The Phantom Menace[/I] was the last Star Wars movie I ever saw? No God could ever be that cruel. Let's get serious here. He has to give Lucas a chance to redeem himself."  
  
Isabel laughed in spite of herself. Her hands were clenched, but Alex was relieved to see that she seemed to believe him. She swallowed, nodded, backed against the far wall of her cell again, slid to the floor.  
  
He knew he was lying. But she believed him. By the time she knew any differently, maybe the others would have come for her. Because he knew they were coming. He could feel it in his bones.  
  
Their friends would not desert them. Isabel would be saved.  
  
But, just to be sure, as he followed the guards from his cell, he turned his head and met Will's eyes , hoping that the young king would understand what he was trying to tell him.  
  
He blinked in surprise when Will's voice was suddenly in his head. [I]She'll be safe. I promise you that she will make it out of this alive.[/I]  
  
He had forgotten about that - about Will's ability to communicate telepathically. Alex barely nodded, didn't want Isabel to notice. [I]Don't tell them anything. No matter what they say they're doing to me, don't tell them. And don't let her. They cannot have the granolith. We both know that. Make sure that Max knows it too.[/I]  
  
[I]You have my word.[/I]  
  
Alex closed his eyes, took a deep breath and followed the guards. He couldn't bear to look at Isabel again.  
  
Several minutes later, he grimaced painfully as he was thrust against the stone wall of another, smaller chamber. Nasedo was already there, pacing. Alex searched his mind frantically for some small detail he could tell him that wouldn't totally compromise his friends - something he could say that would interest the shape-shifter enough to keep him alive for a while longer.  
  
His mind was completely blank. He took this as a good sign. Wasn't his life supposed to pass before his eyes if he was about to die?  
  
He struggled to stand, rubbing his arm where it has smashed against the wall. He clenched his jaw, looked at Nasedo defiantly.  
  
Alex blinked. The shape-shifter wasn't even looking at him.  
  
"Go get her," Nasedo barked to one of the guards. The man left. The other guard took up position by the door. Alex stared at him. For the first time he took the luxury of wondering who these people following Nasedo were anyway. They didn't seem to be Skins, as they weren't flaking skin off all over the place. Not to mention, if Will was to believed, they wouldn't be anyway. Will still trusted his general, in spite of the fact that he was missing. Alex was inclined to agree with him. Nicholas's MIA status didn't mean that he wasn't in league with Nasedo somehow, but it did seem more likely that he was dead.  
  
So, who were these guys? There had only been four shape-shifters on the ship as far as Alex knew. Two had lived - Nasedo and another one who had yet to make his presence known. The other two were dead if Agent Pierce had been telling the truth. Not that he had been, necessarily.  
  
He realized that it was ridiculous to even try and guess at this point. Every time he did, he ended up guessing wrong. He might as well just wait and see what was going to happen.  
  
It took a few more minutes - minutes through which Nasedo ignored him completely, still pacing continuously, upset in a way Alex had never seen from the shape-shifter before. Nasedo never seemed to get emotional. And, when he did, it was usually wry amusement at the stupidity of them all. He had been that way even when they'd thought he was on their side.  
  
But, that certainly wasn't the case now. He was furious. Alex wondered why. In spite of his fear, he could tell that it had nothing to do with him whatsoever.  
  
It was the mysterious "her." The one Nasedo had sent the guard to get. Who was she? Was it Tess? That seemed likely. But, what had Tess done that had made him so mad?  
  
And, it was then, in that instant, that he realized that Tess was not working for Nasedo. Thinking about her, wondering why her guardian was so furious.suddenly, his anger was gone and he felt a little sorry for her.  
  
It was all it took. An instant of clarity, letting his bitterness at the small blonde go for that one moment, and suddenly he saw the truth.  
  
Tess knew where the granolith was. But Nasedo didn't. Which could only mean one thing. Tess's loyalties were no longer clear. But, they weren't entirely with Nasedo.  
  
He frowned. Kate had gone to the others to tell them what had happened. What if they came across Tess first? What if they dealt with her and asked questions later? He wouldn't put it past Michael, in spite of the recent restraint Maria's boyfriend had shown.  
  
While his newest revelation in no way totally cleared Tess, it did mean that she didn't deserve to die. At least, not yet. He actually felt worried for her. It was for that reason that he carefully cleared is throat and asked tentatively. "So, where's Tess? Shouldn't she be here by now?"  
  
Nasedo stopped pacing, turned his blue Pierce eyes on Alex, sending another shiver down his spine. "What about Tess?"  
  
"Isn't that who's coming?" He wanted to hear that it was, that Tess hadn't gone back to the others to continue whatever role she was playing with them.  
  
That they hadn't killed her. That they hadn't hurt someone who might be innocent.  
  
"What makes you think that?"  
  
"Well, you said 'she,'" Alex said. "I can't think of who else it might be."  
  
Nasedo's eyes narrowed, but he seemed less angry, more interested than he had before. "You do think a lot, don't you Mr. Whitman?"  
  
"Well, I'm not known for being the muscles of [I]any[/I] operation," Alex admitted, more unsure now than he had been before. "So, I've tried to make up for it in other areas."  
  
"Tess is gone. It is not she whom I need you to convince."  
  
Alex frowned. Had Nasedo captured someone else? Who on Earth could Nasedo possibly think he had any influence over? Even if it [I]had[/I] been Tess, he was the last person she would listen to. And what was he supposed to convince this person of anyway?  
  
"Who am I supposed to be convincing then?" He asked. "And of what?"  
  
Nasedo didn't reply. He simply turned his head to the opening door.  
  
The guard had returned. He walked in first, followed by his prisoner, who was being pushed along by another man.  
  
Alex felt his eyes widen. It was indeed a woman he knew, if only a little. She looked terrible. But, she would, considering who she was and what had happened at the Harvest. She was dying.  
  
Of course, she was [I]already[/I] supposed to be dead.  
  
He looked at Nasedo. "Don't any of you ever stay dead?"  
  
Nasedo smirked. "I'm sure you'll stay dead when I finish with you Mr. Whitman."  
  
Alex sighed. He was no longer particularly afraid. It was obvious at this point that his life was not in immediate danger. It was also obvious that his belief that Nasedo was going to use him to make Will, Isabel and Jack talk had been wrong.  
  
Because, [I]this[/I] was the person Nasedo wanted to talk. But how he expected Alex to make her do so was beyond him. He barely knew her. Actually, he had only ever met her one time - at Isabel's birthday party.  
  
On the same night she was supposed to have been killed.  
  
It was Congresswoman Vanessa Whittaker.  
  
To be continued. 


	38. Chapter 38

Thought some of you might be interested in seeing the wonderful banner Bordersinsanity made for this fic. If so, check out this url:  
  
[u]Part 38[/u]  
  
"She can't do that," Grant said impatiently. "I told you. The cells he has them in are wired to resist your gifts. She won't get in, and even if she did, she wouldn't get out again."  
  
Kate felt her heart fall in disappointment. It had seemed like a good plan when Michael suggested it - that she simply teleport to Nasedo's compound and bring the others back. No confrontation would have been necessary then, or at least not until after they were all safe and able to plan more effectively. The fact that she might have killed herself trying to teleport that many people at one time was incidental to her. She knew she could do it. The mere possibility that everyone else would stay safe was enough to make her determination complete.  
  
But, according to Grant, there was no possible way.  
  
"So, we have to go in then," Max said, sounding tired. Kate didn't blame him. She was exhausted too. She had been awake for almost twenty-four hours now. While most of her life was spent in a perpetual state of worry, this had also increased exponentially since she, Will and Jack had come to Roswell. It was no wonder she knew that if she even sat down at this point, she wouldn't be getting up for a very long time.  
  
There was no way she was sitting down.  
  
She just wished they would get going. They had learned a lot from Grant, making the past hours their friends had spent in captivity a little more easy to bear. But the guilt that they had made absolutely no attempt to free them up until now was beginning to get to her. It was time to move. For once, she found herself in complete agreement with Michael, whose impatience was more than obvious. He was standing next to her, shifting from one foot to the other, clenching and unclenching his hands, as though he was about to lose his mind.  
  
It made Max's complete calm even more obvious. The young king stood next to Liz, a pensive expression on his face as he thought about the best way to do what they had to do. She found it reassuring, but also a little frustrating. Did he always have to think everything through so completely?  
  
It was only when he finally spoke again that Kate understood that Max wasn't really thinking about a plan at all. He apparently already had one. The careful way he voiced it indicated that he had only been thinking about the best way to let them all in on it without anyone freaking out. Because when Kate heard it, she closed her eyes and grimaced, knowing that various freak-outs were indeed impending. She knew immediately that any attempt on Max's part to avoid everyone ending up mad at him was in vain.  
  
"Liz, Maria, Kyle and Michael are staying here."  
  
He pissed Michael off first, which was really no surprise, although his bellow still made Kate jump. "Are you crazy, Maxwell?" No one else seemed particularly shocked by it though. Maria had already grabbed him by the arm to hold him in his place. Kyle was just rolling his eyes and Grant was staring at him with something approximating disdain. "I am [I]not[/I] staying here!"  
  
"I'm not crazy, Michael," Max replied quietly. "You have a job to do and you're going to do it." He looked down at Liz, who was frowning slightly, but for being the only other person who was likely to majorly object to Max's plan, she seemed remarkably composed. "It's Liz and the granolith that he really wants. We all know it. You are going to protect them both and that's all there is to it. And the best place to do that is here. Obviously."  
  
"Tess can stay!" Michael snapped, although he seemed to be calming down slightly. He seemed to have realized that he was more likely of success by reasoning with Max, rather than yelling. "He wants Tess too. She should stay!"  
  
"I don't think Nasedo wants Tess at all," Max told him firmly. "He must know who she really is. He's had her in his power for years. No, it's Liz he thinks he needs to make the granolith work. Tess can look after herself." Max looked at Tess, who nodded. "Not to mention we need her mindwarp to get them out. Tess goes."  
  
"But Serena was the one who invented it," Kate reminded him, still unsure what exactly he was thinking. She was looking at Liz while she said it, wondering what the dark-haired girl was thinking about the fact that Max was implying that while Tess could protect herself, Liz could not. She was holding herself a little more rigidly than before, but she still didn't say a word.  
  
"I don't think Nasedo knows that," Max shrugged. "If he did, he never would have given Tess so much freedom."  
  
"But he still thinks I'm working with him," Tess said. "He doesn't need to keep me close." She looked at Liz, obviously slightly embarrassed. "I've never made a secret of the fact that I would do anything to become who he told me I was supposed to be."  
  
"Ava," Max agreed. "Which only makes your presence even more valuable in this operation. He doesn't have any idea that you know who you really are now. I'm hoping that we can use that too." He quickly outlined the rest of the plan. By the end of it, everyone seemed resigned.  
  
Michael tried once more though. "Max, you [I]need[/I] me," he insisted. "I'm the only one with any firepower."  
  
Kate felt a chill run down her spine as Max stared right at his best friend and said, "I do need you Michael. I'm trusting you to do this. You are the [I]only[/I] one I trust to do it. If we get caught." He trailed off, paused for a moment, as though trying to rid his mind of that possibility. "If we get caught, you are going to have to get Liz out of here. Until he gets his hands on you two, he has no real control of this situation. You need to leave if we something happens to us. Now that he knows who Liz is, the possibility that he can get what he wants is very real." He glanced at Maria and Kyle. "If we don't come back, you are going to take everyone and leave. You are the only one who can truly protect them. I can't even protect them like you can. You [I]have[/I] to do this."  
  
There was a long moment of silence as everyone digested this. Michael actually looked more upset than he had before. Max's words seemed to have finally reinforced the danger of the position in which they found themselves.  
  
After letting his words sink in, Max addressed Kyle. "Can you call your dad? I know that Michael can handle things here, but having him around wouldn't hurt matters." Kate noticed Michael's spine straighten slightly, as though he had momentarily bent under the strain of Max's trust in him. Max's obvious complete faith seemed to help him to bear it, however. "Plus, he'll be safer."  
  
"I won't tell him that part," Kyle replied. "If he thinks [I]you're[/I] trying to protect [I]him[/I], he's going to be ticked."  
  
Max sighed. "I really don't want him involved in this at all," he admitted. "He's done too much for us."  
  
"He sees it as his job," Kyle reassured him. "Not to mention, he's still a little fixated on the fact that you saved my life. You're not going to get rid of him, so you might as well just accept it."  
  
"Which is why I want you to call him. I'm trying to do that," Max replied. "It's wrong for us to turn our backs on help. This about a lot more than just us now. We know that if we don't get control of this situation, we're dooming this entire planet to destruction."  
  
And, really, after that, there was nothing else to say.  
  
"We leave as soon as the sheriff tells Kyle if he can come or not," Max finally said after they all stood in silence for several moments, each trying to imagine exactly what the Future Max who had visited Liz had lived through. Kate hadn't really thought about it until then. It upset her more than she had ever imagined it would. After all, she had been raised to view Earth as simply a pit-stop to her real life. She had never been meant to love it. In fact, she hadn't even known that she did until she knew that it was threatened.  
  
She tried not to wonder if it was really the planet she cared about. If she hadn't met Alex, would she have even worried at all? Before him, her entire life had been spent waiting to leave this rock, to return to the life she was told was really her destiny.  
  
Everything had changed for her over the past two days. Knowing Alex Whitman had irrevocably altered the way she looked at everything. If her destiny really was to return to Sardica, then why did she feel this way about him? Why did she care? Shouldn't she have been able to deal with him without this constant concern, without this slightly befuddling, but definitely blooming [I]emotion?[/I] Shouldn't she have been able to use him to help her to get home and then forget about him? She knew that it would never be possible though.  
  
Forgetting him. Unthinkable. Using him.Unbearable.  
  
Meeting him.Didn't that have to be destiny too?  
  
All she knew for sure was that she couldn't figure out any of this until she saw him again. Any which way she looked at it, Alex was fated to set her on the path the rest of her life would follow.  
  
She waited impatiently while Kyle called his father.  
  
***  
  
Max took Liz's hand, gently pulling her to a far corner of the pod chamber, away from the others. She had been entirely too quiet during the recounting of his plan. It was making him more nervous than any show of resistance would have. He had expected her to react much like Michael, had expected her to accuse him of weakening the rescue mission by leaving Michael behind just to protect [I]her[/I]. But she hadn't said anything. Which could only mean that she was waiting to get him alone to really let him have it.  
  
The fact that she allowed him to lead her away so that the could have some privacy only reinforced that he was about to have the most important argument of his life.  
  
She could not come. That was all there was to it. Even if she never spoke to him again, he was not going to back down on this.  
  
He looked down at her, took a deep breath and said, "Liz, I know you're mad."  
  
She looked up at him, her dark eyes unreadable. "I'm not mad, Max."  
  
"Just let me explain," he continued, what she had said not really registering. "You have to try and understand. You don't have any gifts - or at least any gifts that you can use right now. I can't worry about you while we're out there. I need to know your safe and I just know that you're the only one Nasedo really wants. We have to keep him away from you." He paused, her words finally penetrating his mind through his own barrage of arguments. He stared at her. "What did you say?"  
  
She was smiling slightly, her head tilted, waiting patiently for him to realize she had spoken. "I said I'm not mad," she repeated. "I think you're right. I am a liability."  
  
"I never said you were a 'liability,'" Max said quickly. "That's not what I meant."  
  
"But it's the truth, Max," Liz replied quietly. "Right now, I am. Until we figure out everything, I fully agree with you that I need to stay away from Nasedo." She sighed, lifted her hands and pushed her dark hair behind her ears. "I don't like that Michael isn't going with you, but I understand that too."  
  
He didn't quite know what to say. He had been expecting a lengthy argument with her, had even expected to leave the pod chamber with the knowledge that she was angry still, but this was so the complete opposite, he found himself momentarily dumb-struck.  
  
"I hope you don't think that I'm just going to sit here and wait for you to get back though," Liz added. "If Tess can't make the granolith work, then someone else is going to have to. I'm going to try and figure it out while you're gone."  
  
He felt a flash of concern. "Liz, I don't know if that's such a good idea." Max frowned. "We don't know exactly what that thing can do. I think you should wait until we're back."  
  
Liz lifted her chin. "Max, I hope you understand that I'm agreeing not to go because I really do think it's the best plan. I'm not doing it because it's what you want. We've already had this discussion today. We love each other, but it doesn't give us the right to control each other. I learned that lesson the hard way," she added quietly. Max knew she was thinking about keeping all the Future Max stuff from him. "Being honest with each other and trusting each other to be strong enough to handle this stuff is the only way we're going to get through this."  
  
"I'm not trying to [I]control[/I] you, Liz," Max argued. "I can't help it if I worry."  
  
She softened. "I know that. But don't you think I'm going to be worried about you too, while you're gone? And I'm not asking [I]you[/I] not to go. You can't ask me not to do what I can while I'm waiting."  
  
He sighed. "Of course I think you're going to be worried. But."  
  
Liz cut him off. "Max, there is no 'but.' You're doing it again!"  
  
"Doing what?" He grimaced, wondering how he had annoyed her so thoroughly.  
  
"Stop thinking that you're not as important as everyone else! We love you. [I]I[/I] love you. If we lose you, if you get hurt, it's just as big a deal as if anyone else does." Her eyes were bright with tears. Max felt his heart contract painfully. He hated to see her cry. It very nearly killed him to see it, particularly because, as she was so strong, she only ever seemed to do it when he was frustrating her in some way.  
  
"Liz, please," he begged. "I'm sorry. Don't cry."  
  
"Don't be sorry," she snapped. "All I want is for you to be careful. I know that you're planning to do most of this yourself, and I want you to promise me that you will let the others help you. In fact, they're the ones who are stronger and better gifted for this situation. You [I]have[/I] to let them help you."  
  
"I know it," Max replied grimly. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."  
  
"No one's expecting you to," Liz answered. "But I know you, and that's why I'm making you promise me. I know you won't break a promise to me, so you're going to do it."  
  
He sighed again, reached out and pulled her tightly against him. Lowering his head, he buried his face in her silky hair. "I promise to come back to you," he whispered against her ear. "And the best way to do that is to let the others help."  
  
A spasm ran through her small body, making him tighten his arm around her. "I just want this to be over," she finally admitted softly, her voice breaking slightly.  
  
"Me too," Max replied. They stood there for several long moments. Max kept his eyes closed, memorizing the feel of her against him, knowing that it would be the remembrance of this that would guarantee him success over the next hours. There was no on God's green Earth he wasn't coming back to [I]this.[/I]  
  
There was no way, now that he knew that they were going to be together forever, that he wasn't coming back.  
  
An hour later, Max wasn't so sure. Now that he was about to throw himself right into Nasedo's hands, he wasn't nearly as confident.  
  
He was huddled against a boulder near the entrance to the canyon where Nasedo's hide-out was located. It was indeed close to the reservation, as Tess had told them earlier. He looked back at the others. Grant was directly behind him, Tess next, followed by Kate. Grant was expressionless, but he could tell that the girls were as nervous as he was. Tess's skin was no longer its usual rosy pink, but an unhealthy looking white, while Kate's large eyes were wider than he had ever seen them. "Are we ready?" He asked softly, knowing that the longer they waited, the worse off they'd be. They'd start second guessing themselves. In fact, he had already started. He knew that they could do this. They had to get moving before he truly psyched himself out.  
  
Tess nodded and Kate whispered, "Ready."  
  
Max straightened, motioning for Grant to take a hold of his arm. He looked the shapeshifter in the eye, wondering for one brief moment if he was right to trust this guy. He was, after all, the progeny of a race born to deceive. Gritting his teeth, he looked briefly at Kate. Tess was helping her to the ground where she was going to pretend to be unconscious.  
  
Grant reached into his pocket and pulled out a small radio. "This is Sorenson," he said into it. "Request back-up at main entrance."  
  
There was a long pause. The radio finally sprang to life, after several seconds of static. "Where have you been?" The voice on the other end demanded. Max felt a chill descend his spine as he recognized Nasedo's voice.  
  
"Checking out the perimeter," Grant replied into the com. "I just had a feeling we should be expecting some guests. I didn't trust your idiots to get their hands on them. You had to take the other four out yourself after all."  
  
"Well?" Nasedo demanded, sounding impatient.  
  
"As always, I was right," Grant said evenly. "I have the king himself. And the little escapee."  
  
"You took them out yourself?"  
  
"Princess Karana exposed Tess, but she managed to escape unscathed. She came back just in time to help out. She's here now. They know you're alive."  
  
There was another long pause. Max narrowed his eyes, waited for Nasedo to say that he wasn't buying it. This was the real concern - that Nasedo might have stopped trusting Tess. After all, she had left him that message at the Special Unit. If he had gotten it.They were banking on the hope that he had been too busy.  
  
"Very well." Max closed his eyes with relief. "I'm sending out two men to help you bring them in. I'll meet you in the main chamber momentarily. I'm occupied with Rowena at the moment."  
  
Max felt his heart stop.  
  
Grant seemed to notice the expression on his face because he shook him briefly, after switching off the radio. "It's not her. You know it's not. She's safe. He's just playing games. I've told you, he still doesn't entirely trust me. He knows you're here and he's trying to freak you out."  
  
Max swallowed, nodded. He [I]knew[/I] Liz was safe. He would have felt it if something had happened and, yet, still he had let down his guard for an instant. He had to stop it. It was what Nasedo was best at after all, these mind games. He could not let the shapeshifter entrap him.  
  
"This is it," Grant said. He looked at Tess. "Are you ready?"  
  
She nodded, biting her bottom lip. She closed her eyes, waiting for Kate's signal to start the mindwarp.  
  
To be continued. 


	39. Chapter 39

[u]Part 39[/u]  
  
Alex's mouth was hanging open in shock. He couldn't tear his eyes off of Whittaker. It suddenly made sense why Nasedo was presently shaped like Pierce. That was the form in which the congresswoman would have trusted him, the form in which she had [I]loved[/I] him. He felt a shudder of disgust towards Nasedo. While he knew that Vanessa Whittaker was just as evil as Nasedo, no one deserved to be so completely lied to in that way.  
  
Anyway, how did they even know that Whittaker was evil anymore? Obviously she hadn't really murdered Nasedo. She had kidnapped and hurt Tess, but that wasn't even certain at this point either, Alex realized. After all, the fact that Whittaker was alive meant that Isabel must have been tricked into thinking she had killed her somehow. And there was only one person capable of creating such a realistic deception.  
  
Tess.  
  
Alex sighed. [I]Great,[/I] he thought.[I]Back to knowing that Tess is a bad guy. Although why I ever changed my mind about that is a mystery. [/I] He flinched slightly at the memory of the malevolence in Tess's blue eyes as she had tossed that alien bomb in his direction.  
  
Nasedo was still ignoring Alex, his attention focused on Whittaker, who was thrust unceremoniously onto a chair in the center of the room. [I]She[/I] was looking at him though, a slight frown on her fine-featured face. In spite of the bruises marring her perfect complexion, a particularly brutal one encircling one blue eye, her beauty was still unmistakable.  
  
Alex met her eyes, trying not to show his fear. Her expression softened for one brief moment, but when she turned to Nasedo, her voice did not reflect it. "Why have you brought me here again? I told you before that you might as well just kill me. I'm not going to tell you anything."  
  
"Then know you are responsible for this boy's death," Nasedo replied calmly. Alex felt his heart stop beating. He scrambled back against the hard, stone wall, trying desperately not to whimper as Nasedo nodded at the guard standing near the door.  
  
This was really it. He almost couldn't believe that he had made it this far only to be shot down because Whittaker, to whom he had absolutely no connection, was being difficult. Alex watched the guard move menacingly in his direction, the gun he wore at his side now in his hand. He had time to reflect that it was ironic that it was a human weapon that was going to end his life, knew that his time was really up as the gun was raised, pointed at him, and the most important events of his life started to roll through his mind at super-speed.  
  
[I]Isabel is never going to forgive me.[/I] It was a ludicrous thought. He had known he was lying to her when he had been brought out of his cage and, yet, he supposed that somewhere inside him he had believed that Nasedo wouldn't [I]really[/I] have him killed. He abruptly remembered Nasedo's words earlier that evening. Words he, Alex, obviously hadn't - and should have - taken to heart: [I]We will not be leaving any remnants of our little Earthly adventure behind and that includes any humans you've come into contact with.[/I]  
  
He had been doomed from the very beginning. As long as Nasedo thought he could use him, he had survived. But he had never been meant to get out of this alive.  
  
After that, his mind went mercifully blank. Fear was completely gone. What was the point of being afraid when there was no way to change anything?  
  
"No! Wait!"  
  
Alex blinked, but his eyes did not move from the muzzle of the gun still aimed at his head. It was only when the gun was lowered that he realized that it was Whittaker's voice. He looked at Nasedo, who had obviously motioned for the guard to pause.  
  
"Why is he here?" Whittaker demanded. "He has nothing to do with any of this. Let him go."  
  
"I will let him go, if you tell me what I want to know," Nasedo said evenly. "Where is the granolith?"  
  
"I told you!" She exclaimed. "I don't know that!" She sounded desperate. "I thought you finally believed me!"  
  
Nasedo's tone was grim when he said, "I did. When you wouldn't even save that little brat, I was sure you couldn't possibly be lying. Who knew that you were so heartless, Rowena? It almost worked though. You let one of your own die in order to protect the secret, but I now know for sure that you [I]do[/I] know."  
  
Rowena. Nasedo had just called Congresswoman Whittaker [I]Rowena.[/I] Alex felt his mouth fall open again.  
  
"I told you to stop calling me that," Whittaker said wearily. "I'm not Rowena." Alex nodded, certain that she was right. After all, she couldn't be Rowena. [I]Liz[/I] was Rowena.  
  
And, yet, Nasedo sounded utterly confident when he replied, "It's time to stop your games. I know who you are. There is no one else you could possibly be. Rowena is the only one Khivar would have ever entrusted with the mission to come here and retrieve the pods."  
  
She snorted lightly. "You couldn't be more wrong. He doesn't trust me at all."  
  
"He sent you here with his right hand man to track down his own clone," Nasedo argued. "You are his wife. The rumours that you survived your captivity with Zan have been proven true."  
  
Whittaker pressed her lips together, refusing to answer. Finally, she glanced at Alex again, frowning slightly. "Tell me what you think you know," she said to Nasedo.  
  
"This boy," he indicated Alex, "told me a very interesting story earlier tonight." The shapeshifter proceeded to outline the entire tale of Future Max and his use of the granolith to go back in time. "Since I know that you are the only one who could possibly have engineered the granolith to do such a thing," Nasedo concluded, "I now have even more proof that you know where it is."  
  
"Are you insane?" Whittaker snapped. "You just told me yourself that this happens fourteen years from now. It doesn't prove anything. Maybe I'll find it later. It doesn't mean I know where it is [I]now[/I]."  
  
Nasedo glared at her. "Why else would you have chosen to make contact with the Royal Four now?" He snapped. "You know where it is and you're planning to use it to take them all back to Antar."  
  
"Why would I do that when I still haven't found my own clone?" Whittaker demanded. "There's no point in going back without her." Alex stared at her, realized that she had just basically admitted that she was indeed Rowena. Because [I]her[/I] clone would be Liz, the only member of the eight podded royals sent to Earth who was still technically lost.  
  
"Please spare me your lies," Nasedo ordered. "I know who Liz Parker is. It was confirmed for me tonight by the ravings of Khivar's idiotic clone, but I was beginning to suspect anyway. There was no other reason for you to seek her out the way you did. I'm only embarrassed I didn't realize it months ago. Zan's obsession with her should have told me all I needed to know."  
  
"Liz Parker is not my clone," Whittaker told him, her tone so firm, Alex almost believed her, even though he knew the truth. "Even if she were, that doesn't mean I know where the granolith is."  
  
Alex watched Nasedo's face in fascination. The shapeshifter's Pierce visage was starting to turn an interesting shade of purple, his rage beginning to get the better of him. Alex was still absolutely petrified and Nasedo's worsening mood did not improve matters. He was completely in the wrong place right now. He was still expendable, while Whittaker obviously was not. He had a feeling that if someone was going to pay for her inability to tell Nasedo anything, it was going to be him.  
  
Luckily, a sharp voice, seemingly coming out of nowhere suddenly pierced the tense silence that had fallen over the room. Whittaker and Nasedo were still glaring at each other, at a stalemate.  
  
"This is Sorenson. Request back-up at main entrance."  
  
Nasedo started, glared down towards his hip. "I suggest you reflect on your next move, your highness," he said, pulling a radio out of his suit jacket pocket. "If you haven't decided to talk when I'm finished here, the human dies."  
  
"Where have you been?" He said into the radio.  
  
"Checking out the perimeter," Grant's creepy voice came back through the small radio. So [I]that's[/I] where he disappeared to, Alex reflected. "I just had a feeling we should be expecting some guests. I didn't trust your idiots to get their hands on them. You had to take the other four out yourself after all."  
  
"Well?" Nasedo demanded, his impatience obvious. Alex had stopped listening though. He looked at Whittaker, who was moving slightly, obviously in an attempt to get his attention. He frowned at her. She was staring at him with wide eyes, trying to tell him something. He had no idea what.  
  
"I have the king himself. And the little escapee." Alex's focus jerked back to Nasedo and his radio. Max had been captured. And Kate.  
  
He felt his heart drop. Why had she come back? Max's presence did not surprise him at all. He had known that his friend would come for Isabel. But Kate had not needed to come back. She had been safe. Was she crazy?  
  
Alex forced himself to take deep breaths. [I]Okay, think here Whitman,[/I] he ordered. [I]Max and Kate obviously didn't come alone. Michael must be around. We still have a chance here.[/I]  
  
"You took them out yourself?" Nasedo demanded, his anger fading slightly, much to Alex's relief. Not that he was thrilled by why Nasedo was pleased.  
  
"Princess Karana exposed Tess, but she managed to escape unscathed. She came back just in time to help out. She's here now. They know you're alive."  
  
Tess. Back. And a traitor again. Alex closed his eyes, sighing.  
  
"Very well," Nasedo replied, taking several seconds longer than necessary to do so, Alex reflected. "I'm sending out two men to help you bring them in. I'll meet you in the main chamber momentarily. I'm occupied with Rowena at the moment."  
  
Nasedo turned the radio off, looked at the guard. "Send out Talon and Terear. I want a read on Sorenson. See if he has shifted recently. Don't let him know about it though." He paused, then said thoughtfully, "Check out Tess too. If she's warping, I want her taken down immediately."  
  
The guard looked at Alex for a moment, then at Whittaker. "Sir, should you be in here alone?"  
  
"Are you questioning my orders?" Nasedo demanded.  
  
"No," the guard said quickly. "Whatever you say, sir." He was gone a moment later.  
  
Nasedo watched him leave, then looked at Whittaker. "Well, well, well. Two more down, two to go. I'm guessing the other little royals are around here somewhere. It's only a matter of time."  
  
"One of them you'll never find," Whittaker told him firmly. "I swear to you that Liz Parker is not my clone. She isn't."  
  
Nasedo merely smiled. "We'll know soon enough, won't we? If I am proven wrong, she can quite simply be killed. No harm, no foul."  
  
"And, yet, you'll have to keep seven strong teenagers under lock and key for as long as it takes to find the real Rowena," Whittaker reminded him. "You're crazy to do this now. You still don't have anything."  
  
"That's where you're wrong Rowena," Nasedo snapped. "With Zan, I have everything I need. Even if you won't tell me where the granolith is to save him, Vilandra will. Or he'll tell me to save her. The pawns are in place."  
  
"You still won't be able to make it work." Alex blinked. Had he just spoken? Where did [I]that[/I] come from?  
  
Nasedo turned his head, narrowed his gaze on him. "Do you have something you'd like to add Mr. Whitman?"  
  
"Maybe," Alex shrugged, sounding more confident than he felt. He looked at Whittaker again. "I don't know if she's Rowena or not, but I know that she's right that Liz isn't. I've seen the baby pictures Mr. Harding. She was born to Nancy and Jeff Parker seventeen years ago."  
  
"Does it matter?" Nasedo demanded. "It really doesn't. Because I have Rowena, whether she is Miss Parker or not." He looked at Whittaker, his expression triumphant. "I only need Rath and I have a full complement of the royals."  
  
Alex felt a chill descend his spine. He still had no idea what the granolith even did, but he did know that he didn't want Nasedo to be able to make it work. Because he knew that the shapeshifter was right. To save each other, Isabel and Max would crack.  
  
He looked at Whittaker, who was watching him wordlessly, a slight frown on her face. In the end, he only had one thing to tell Nasedo that might make him think twice about even looking for Liz and Michael. "I don't think Rowena's going to be able to help you. Liz told me that Future Max told [I]her[/I] that it was someone named Serena who made the granolith work. We don't even know who she is. You're out of luck."  
  
"That's where you are mistaken Mr. Whitman," Nasedo told him calmly. "I know exactly where Serena is."  
  
"You do?" Alex croaked.  
  
"I do," Nasedo replied. "Rath is on his way, I am sure. It is all coming together now. And, so, I regret that it is now time to tie up the loose ends." He smiled at Alex, almost kindly. And, yet, Alex's blood ran cold.  
  
He knew that, this time, there would be no reprieve. [I]He[/I] was the loose end Nasedo was planning to tie up, and, as the shapeshifter raised his hand, Alex knew that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.  
  
***  
  
Kate grimaced. Her stomach was killing her. She was draped over Grant's shoulder, as he carried her supposedly unconscious form down a long, dark tunnel. She had been told by Tess to wait thirty seconds after the guard's arrival to teleport she and Grant to the cells, but she didn't know if she was going to be able to resist yelping in pain before that. He had the boniest shoulder in the world.  
  
It was only the force of her will that allowed her mind to continue counting evenly. [I]Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty.[/I]  
  
As the magic second ticked by, Kate reached behind her, grabbed the hand Grant had resting on her back, closed her eyes, and jumped.  
  
When she opened her eyes, she was still staring at the floor. It took her longer than usual to orient herself, being as she was upside down. "Put me down," she ordered Grant. "I think I'm going to be sick." He quickly complied.  
  
"Katie!" It was Will's voice. She took a deep breath, trying to control her nausea. She opened her eyes, found herself staring at her brother. He was up at the bars of his cage, clutching them, his amazement obvious. He looked at Grant suspiciously. "What are you doing with [I]him[/I]?"  
  
"He's okay," she told her brother quickly. "He's the other protector, but [I]he[/I] actually protects." She looked at the two other occupied cages. Isabel was in one, Jack in the other. She felt her heart leap with joy at the sight of her cousin, but not for long. Where was Alex?  
  
"Are you alone?" Will demanded. "You can't possibly expect to teleport us all out of here?"  
  
Isabel gasped. Kate looked at her, realized that she was staring past them. "Oh my God! Max!"  
  
"It's okay," Kate whispered, trying to calm Isabel, as it did likely appear that Max was in a precarious position. "He's with me." She felt another flash of concern. The plan was proceeding smoothly, but one thing they had not counted on was that the captives were being held separately. "Where's Alex?"  
  
"Why are you just [I]standing[/I] there?" Will snapped, not answering her question. "They're going to see you."  
  
"They won't," Kate replied. "Tess is mindwarping them to think that Grant and I are still over there with them. We have to get you out of there so that you can take them down Will." The entire plan hinged on Will out of the cage presently muting his powers. He was the only one who had the firepower to deal with the guards permanently. "Then Max and Tess will get you all out of here."  
  
Grant was already playing with the electronic lock on Will's cage.  
  
"I thought Tess was a traitor," Isabel spoke up. "That's what Alex said."  
  
"She isn't," Kate said. "We'll explain everything once we have you out of here." She looked over her shoulder, her fear beginning to get the better of her. "Where is Alex?" She repeated, knew that her voice was starting to rise hysterically.  
  
There was only one explanation for why he wasn't here. She couldn't believe that she was actually asking the question that was going to confirm it. She knew inherently that she would be no good to anyone the instant anyone told her that he had been killed.  
  
"Nasedo took him for questioning," Isabel explained. "He promised me he'd be fine. He's okay," she added, as though trying to convince herself.  
  
Kate stared at her. "Where?" She demanded.  
  
Isabel didn't get a chance to answer though. "He's changed the combination," Grant muttered, interrupting. He looked over his shoulder. The guards, lugging Max's supposedly unconscious form between them, were almost upon them. Tess was walking straight towards them, her blue eyes wide open. She was completely unfocused on them, however, her entire attention on her warp and making it seem like she wasn't warping at all.  
  
"It's okay." Kate looked at Will, who had a strange look on his face. She watched in astonishment as her brother reached through the bars and tapped in a code himself.  
  
"Will!" She exclaimed, her horror so complete, she could think of nothing else to say.  
  
"Never mind," Will told her firmly. "I'll explain later." She could see that he looked slightly ashamed of himself. She didn't blame him. He had known how to get himself out of that cage all along! What had he been thinking, making them come for him, when he could have taken at least Isabel and Jack away by himself?  
  
Grant stepped aside as Will pushed open his cage door. "Open the other ones," he ordered the shapeshifter. Grant was staring at him, obviously not nearly as shocked as Kate, his contempt obvious.  
  
Will looked at Kate. "Alex is in a room nearby. Go get him Kate. Now." He stepped past her, sending two controlled bolts of energy towards the guards carrying Max. They fell soundlessly to the floor, taking Max with them. He was up a moment later though, and at Isabel's cage, reaching through to grab his sister's hands, his relief that she appeared to be mostly well obvious.  
  
Kate pressed her lips together, her shock at her brother's behavior quickly turning to anger. She didn't say anything though, simply closed her eyes, thought of Alex, and moments later found herself in his presence.  
  
The scene that greeted her was not more reassuring than the one she'd left. Alex was on the floor, huddled against the wall, the fear on his face so obvious, Kate felt her heart go out to him instantly. And, yet, her joy at seeing him relatively unharmed was so great, she felt it right down to her toes.  
  
He didn't seem nearly as overjoyed to see her though. She watched his eyes widen in horror as they registered on her. "Kate!" He exclaimed. "Move!"  
  
It was the last thing she heard before the entire world went black.  
  
To be continued. 


	40. Chapter 40

[u]Part 40[/u]  
  
Liz tilted her head, stared at the blinking light at the base of the granolith, her brow furrowed.  
  
"Are you checking to see if you have alien death-ray eyes?" Maria asked. Her friend had just crawled through into the granolith. Liz looked over at her, laughed slightly. Not that she was in a particularly amused mood. But she knew that Maria was just trying to make her feel better. Her entire stomach was in knots after all.  
  
She knew that Max was okay. She would absolutely feel it if he wasn't, and, yet, she was still worried. Her concern was making it very difficult to think about the problem at hand, which was, of course, the granolith.  
  
"No," Liz replied. "I'm just trying to make it let me remember. I mean, I [I]have[/I] to know something about this thing, don't I? If Tess is a clone of a clone of who I was, then shouldn't I have the knowledge locked up somewhere inside my head too?"  
  
Maria was staring at her. "You know what scares me Liz? I actually understood what you just said."  
  
Liz snorted. "I don't blame you. This whole thing just gets more ridiculous by the day. I mean, really Maria. Can you believe that it was just over a year ago that neither of us even knew that aliens existed?"  
  
"It is weird," Maria agreed. "But I wouldn't change it. Would you?"  
  
"Of course not," Liz replied. "I just wish that it wasn't always so difficult." She glanced at her best friend guiltily. "You know how Tess said she didn't believe that Rowena and Zan abandoned their thrones for each other?"  
  
"Yeah?" Maria prompted, her expression sympathetic.  
  
"I'm glad she has so much faith in them, but Maria, I can't say that I do. I mean, I [I]understand[/I] why they might have done it. It's something that would be very easy to do, you know? If I had the chance to just run away with Max, to give this all up, to be with him and to just be [I]normal[/I], I think I might take it."  
  
Maria reached out, brought her arm around Liz's shoulders. "Liz, that's so not true, and you know it. You had the chance to do that once and you didn't take it. Didn't Max ask you to run away with him that time?"  
  
Liz shrugged. "Well, I don't know if he really meant it. He was drunk. I guess he did. But, now, I'm looking back on that, wondering if I didn't make a mistake. If Nasedo couldn't find Max and me, wouldn't that just be better?" She sighed again, not waiting for Maria to reply. "Of course, I know it wouldn't. He'd just tear this planet apart looking for us."  
  
"Which is why you wouldn't run away," Maria assured her. "Liz, you have every right to wish for that freedom. You even had it at one point. You didn't have to come back to Roswell this summer. But you did. Because you knew that it was your responsibility to do so. Somewhere inside you, you knew that you and Max were meant to be together and that somehow you'd make it work. I have complete faith in you chica. I believe Tess. I know that Zan and Rowena were exactly like you and Max - totally in love and totally dedicated to their planets. And even if they weren't, you and Max aren't [I]them[/I] anymore."  
  
Liz laid her head on Maria's shoulder, glaring at the granolith. "I know," she said, but, inside, she didn't. She didn't know it. She wouldn't know it for sure until she had her memories back. Until she made the damn granolith work.  
  
After a long moment of companionable silence, Maria said, "I just came in to tell you that the sheriff is here. Michael's filling him in."  
  
"How is Michael?" Liz asked, concerned. While Max's best friend had come around, understanding in the end why Max had wanted him to stay behind, he had started to pace like a caged tiger the instant the others left.  
  
"He's okay," Maria replied. "He's taking his job very seriously, Liz," she added wryly. "I have a feeling that you've gained a bodyguard for life. He and Kyle are starting to lay out plans for the king and queen's security detail once all of this is over."  
  
Liz, who had drifted away from Maria, and was starting to circle the granolith, her eyes narrowed as she examined it, started at this and looked back at her best friend. "What? Are you joking?" She asked, incredulous.  
  
"He was talking like twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week," Maria added mischievously. "But you'll get rid of him. All you have to do is make out in front of him once or twice. That really grosses him out, you know."  
  
Liz laughed. "I'm sure that can be arranged." She paused, frowned slightly. "Speaking of making out, did I tell you what happened when Max and I woke up in my bed after I took Serena's scarf off?"  
  
When Maria shook her head, no, Liz quickly filled her in. By the end of it, Maria's eyes were wide. "You made [I]him[/I] glow?"  
  
"Not only that, Maria, for a while there, it felt like we were[I]them[/I]. I don't even remember some of it. It was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced. It was wonderful, but it was also kind of creepy, like they were trying to break out from inside us or something."  
  
"You mean Zan and Rowena."  
  
"Right. Maria, what happens if we make the granolith work and our memories come back and we're no longer [I]us[/I]? I mean, it could happen, right? Like what happened when I wore that scarf." Liz hadn't even realized that she'd been worrying about this until she voiced it to Maria now. She had been concerned though. She never wanted to feel as trapped as she had while Serena had been in control of her body. And she wasn't even Serena. What would happen when she and Max allowed their [I]real[/I] alien sides to emerge?  
  
"I don't know what to tell you, Liz," Maria admitted. "But I have a gut instinct that it's going to work out, that it will be more like Will and Kate and how they remember things."  
  
Liz shuddered. "God, Will. He's going to be devastated Maria, when he finds out he was never married to Rowena."  
  
"Well, Serena's [I]here[/I] Liz. He has Tess."  
  
"But does Tess want him?" Liz asked. "I don't think so. There's something going on between her and Kyle, at least on his side. And I think she might still have a bit of a thing for Max. I mean, just because she found out we're.." She paused, grimaced, reflecting on how she was going to refer to her strange relationship with Tess, then continued firmly, "[I]sisters[/I] doesn't mean she can just turn off feelings she's had for years. Not to mention, I don't think Will can just transfer all the feelings he has for me to her. I really think he loves me."  
  
"It's a tragedy, isn't it?" Maria replied ironically. "Two gorgeous alien kings in love with you. Woe is you."  
  
"Maria!"  
  
"I'm just kidding," Maria assured her. "I feel bad for the guy too, Liz, but you belong with Max. I thought so even before we found out who you really are. I can't be sorry that Will's not going to get what he wants."  
  
"I'm just hoping that he doesn't do something he's going to regret because of it," Liz told her. "He can be a little irrational."  
  
"More reason I'm glad you're with Max," Maria said. "Mr. Rational himself. Of course, that's not necessarily true when it comes to you," she admitted. "But, you're safe with Max. I really don't think that would have ever been the case with Will."  
  
"It's not like I ever wanted Will," Liz reminded her firmly.  
  
"I don't know Lizzie. I saw the way you looked at him the first time you laid eyes on him. There was something there."  
  
"Fine," Liz admitted. "But nothing serious. I just think I must have recognized something in him. At least it never went too far." She decided to put Will out of her mind for the moment. There was no point in worrying about it right now. He needed to be rescued first. She had far more important things to think about - namely the safety of their friends.  
  
Not to mention her determination to have figured out how to make the granolith work before they got back.  
  
Lifting her hands, Liz rubbed her temples. She glared at the granolith. "I hate this thing," she muttered.  
  
"Liz, if you can't make it work, you can't make it work," Maria admonished her. "There's no reason to get so upset. We'll figure it out."  
  
"How, Maria? How are we going to figure it out?" Liz demanded, knowing that her frustration was evident in her voice.  
  
"I don't know," Maria admitted. She sighed, took a step back and leaned into the silver wall behind her.  
  
Liz, who was watching her from the other side of the chamber, frowned slightly. "Maria?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Did that wall behind you just [I]move?[/I]"  
  
But Maria wasn't there to answer. Because, suddenly, the wall was gone and so was Maria.  
  
"Maria!" Liz's scream was loud enough that it brought Michael's head poking through the entrance to the chamber. Liz barely noticed though, already around the up-side down cone and through the hole where Maria had disappeared.  
  
She heard Michael calling after her, but ignored him. She found herself standing at the head of a flight of stairs. They led into darkness. "Maria?" She called down, her voice softer than she meant it to be. She could feel her heart thundering in her chest.  
  
She felt Michael behind her in the darkness. "Liz, what happened?" The sheriff and Kyle brought up the rear.  
  
"She just fell through the wall," Liz replied. She took a careful step down. Instantly the stair under her feet lit up, as though encouraging her to proceed. She gasped, reached back and grabbed Michael's hand.  
  
He was nowhere near as tentative. Grasping her firmly, he practically flew down the steps, pulling her after him, yelling into the darkness. "Maria!" Liz heard the sheriff calling after them. With every step they took, the steps brightened, lighting their way.  
  
They were soon at the bottom, where they found Maria woozily climbing to her feet. Michael let go of Liz and was at her side instantly, helping her up. "Are you okay?" He demanded.  
  
Liz's best friend leaned into her boyfriend, reaching up to rub the small of her back. "I think so."  
  
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Michael bellowed, making Liz jump.  
  
"Gee, Michael," Maria snapped back, her annoyance getting the better of whatever pain she might have been feeling. "I really chose to fall through a wall and down a flight of stairs on purpose."  
  
He didn't reply, simply pulled her more tightly against him. Liz could see the whiteness of his face clearly. She turned to watch the sheriff and Kyle reach the bottom of the stairs. They were both wearing expressions of concern, which were quickly replaces by amazement as they looked around. The sheriff managed a gruff reprimand to Michael for acting without thinking, but he was obviously more interested in the room Maria had found than in getting angry.  
  
The chamber in which they found themselves was lit from within the walls, throwing the same dull glow as the granolith did above. Liz looked around, her own eyes widening. She then looked up and found herself staring at what had to be the bottom of the granolith. It was an inverted cone, reflecting almost identically the cone that could be found above.  
  
"Liz, look!"  
  
Maria's voice captured Liz's attention. She followed Maria's pointed finger with her gaze and found herself staring at a sliver hand-print. It was embedded in the wall. She moved two steps towards it before she knew what she was doing. It was only Michael grabbing her by the elbow that stopped her.  
  
"It's.I think it's [I]mine[/I]," she whispered. "It's calling to me." She looked back at Michael. "Michael, can you feel it?" He simply nodded mutely, gesturing with his chin towards another hand-print on the wall, larger than the one Liz had first noticed. She knew, without a doubt, that it belonged to him.  
  
Liz swallowed, knowing instinctively that what Maria said next was true. "Liz, I think we've found out how to work the granolith."  
  
***  
  
Alex was just in the process of closing his eyes, praying silently to himself as he waited to meet his maker, when something caught his attention. The air between he and Nasedo was shimmering in a way that, although he wasn't sure it was possible, caused his fright to actually increase.  
  
He recognized that shimmer. And, moments later, he was proven right when Kate abruptly materialized directly in front of him, Nasedo's hand now pointed directly at the back of her dark head.  
  
"Kate! Move!"  
  
But it was too late. Nasedo had no time to stop what he had already started. A flash of light emerged from his hand and smashed directly into Kate. Alex watched in horror as her blue eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed to the ground.  
  
He was on his feet and by her side seconds later. He didn't even care if Nasedo shot him down too. All he knew was that he had to get to her. Dropping to his knees, he pulled her gently into his arms, shaking her lightly. "Kate? Kate!" She was still breathing, but shallowly.  
  
Alex realized that Whittaker had joined him. She was running her hands through Kate's long hair, searching for the wound that the shapeshifter had created. Looking up, he saw Nasedo on the ground nearby. He looked at Whittaker in amazement.  
  
"It's what I was trying to tell you earlier," she said quickly. "I managed to work myself free. I was trying to get you to help me overpower him. He was distracted when he hit her, so I took him out then."  
  
"Is he dead?"  
  
"I don't know," she replied. "But he won't be bothering us for a while." She was staring down at Kate, her concern obvious. "Well, she's still alive. He must have managed to pull back some of his power before he hit her. He wouldn't want her dead, obviously."  
  
Alex could not take his eyes off Whittaker's hands, which were covered with Kate's blood. And, yet, he managed to stutter, "Who are you?"  
  
"Never mind that now," she snapped. She was already looking around. "Max is here somewhere?"  
  
"I assume that's who Grant meant by the young king," Alex replied.  
  
"We need him," Whittaker said. She was on her feet again. "I'll be right back."  
  
"No!" Alex exclaimed. He didn't want to leave Kate, but he knew that he was the one who had to go. "They'll blast you first and ask questions later."  
  
She paused. "Good point. You go."  
  
Once Alex was through the door, he was forced to proceed with caution. The last thing he wanted was to run into any guards. He didn't have the time, nor the capability, to deal with them. When he saw that all was clear, he hurried down the stone corridor, pausing again at the end and poking his head around the corner.  
  
He stared into the cavern in amazement. All of his friends were out of their cages. Grant was in the process of pushing the last of Nasedo's minions into one of them, then proceeded to slam the door behind him. The guard Nasedo had sent out was standing next to him, his weapon trained on his own men. Isabel, Max and Tess were nearest to where he stood, Max supporting Tess with an arm around her waist. Alex frowned, wondered what [I]that[/I] was about. Well, it didn't matter at the moment.  
  
"Max!"  
  
His friends all turned at the sound of his voice. He watched Isabel's face light up with joy. She flew at him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Alex! You're okay!"  
  
"I am," he replied grimly, disentangling himself. He decided to ignore the hurt expression on Isabel's face for the moment. He just didn't have time. "But Kate isn't. Max, she needs you." He turned on his heel, heading back in the direction from which he had come, not even checking to make sure Max was following. Alex knew he was.  
  
It wasn't until he reached the stone corridor again that he realized Max [I]wasn't[/I] behind him. He turned around, perplexed.  
  
Max had taken a few steps, but was examining him suspiciously. Isabel and Tess were directly behind him.  
  
"What's wrong?" Alex demanded. "C'mon!"  
  
"How do we know you're really Alex?" Max demanded.  
  
Alex stared at him. "What? Oh! You think I'm Nasedo?" He paused, searching his mind for something to tell them that only he would know. He couldn't think of anything. "Ask me a question," he ordered, beginning to tap his foot with impatience. He understood his friends' caution, but every second that ticked by was rendering the likelihood of Max being able to heal Kate obsolete.  
  
Max could not bring back the dead.  
  
Alex erased the thought immediately. Kate was [I]not[/I] going to die.  
  
Max looked at Isabel, obviously expecting her to take the lead. She complied quickly, "How did I convince you for sure that I was an alien?"  
  
"That's easy," Alex replied. "You turned some ketchup into mustard at the Crashdown."  
  
Isabel nodded at Max. "It's him."  
  
Alex turned on his heel again, knew that his friends were following this time. They were back in the interrogation room moments later. He heard Isabel gasp behind him, mentally berated himself for not preparing them for Whittaker's presence.  
  
"She's okay," he said quickly. "Just ignore her for right now, okay?" Max was hovering in the doorway, Isabel and Tess behind him, obviously unsure. "Max, do you trust me?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Then get over here and heal Kate. [I]Now![/I] Whittaker's okay," he repeated.  
  
Max stared at him for a long moment, but finally moved forward again. Whittaker stood up, moving aside so that he could kneel next to Kate. Alex flinched when he noticed the pool of blood that had gathered under her dark head in the short time he'd been gone.  
  
He watched, his entire form tense, as Max placed his hands gently on either side of Kate's face. Max closed his eyes, obviously focusing. Alex did not feel reassured when he saw the sweat that were already beginning to gather on his friend's forehead and he had barely started. It could not be a good sign.  
  
Max finally opened his eyes, looked at Alex helplessly. "I can't make a connection. She needs to open her eyes." He lifted her gently into his arms. "Kate. Kate! Open your eyes! Kate!" And, finally, as though hoping their past relationship might do something to help matters. "Karana!"  
  
Nothing. Alex stared at her, realized that her chest was no longer rising and falling. He looked to the right when he felt someone grab him by the arm. It was Isabel. She wasn't looking at Kate, but at him, her concern obvious.  
  
Max finally looked up again, his sorrow obvious. "I'm sorry, Alex."  
  
"What?" Alex demanded. "What are you saying?"  
  
"I can't.I can't get in. I can't do anything unless I can get in," Max told him, his voice cracking slightly. He met Alex's eyes, his guilt reflected in his gaze.  
  
They both turned their heads when a strangled cry of grief sounded from the doorway. It was Will, Jack behind him. They had both obviously just heard about what had happened.  
  
There was a split second of complete silence, as though they were all frozen. And, then, much to Alex's absolute disbelief, Will broke the tableau. He was on Max in an instant, knocking him away from Kate, whose lifeless form would have tumbled to the ground if Alex hadn't moved more quickly than he ever had in his entire life.  
  
"You bastard! Fix her! Fix her! I won't let her die again!"  
  
Tess screamed, but Isabel and Jack both moved, pulling Will off of Max, who was so shocked, he hadn't even tried to fight back.  
  
"Will!" It was Whittaker's voice, penetrating the absolute pandemonium that had erupted. "Khivar! Stop this! Now!"  
  
Will jerked away from Isabel and Jack, panting. He glared at her. "What good is he? He let her die!"  
  
"Khivar, stop!" Whittaker exclaimed, moving towards him. She placed her hands on his face, forcing him to look at her. "She is gone. It is no one's fault. You must accept this. She is gone."  
  
Alex felt a lump enter his throat at the absolute finality of the woman's words. He pulled the body in his arms more tightly against him, lowering his head, his grief so intense, he didn't even know where to begin handling it.  
  
[I]She is gone. Before I ever really had a chance to know what she meant to me. How could she possibly have meant so much to me in such a short time?[/I]  
  
He felt a hand on his shoulder, knew it was Isabel, but he could not move, could not acknowledge her attempt to comfort him.  
  
He had to have his chance. They had never had a chance!  
  
"Kate." It was more of a plea than anything, but he knew it was in vain.  
  
She was gone. 


	41. Chapter 41

[u]Part 41[/u]  
  
Max was still on his knees, where he had remained after Will's attack. He was staring at Kate in shock, his fists clenched at his sides. He almost wished that they had just let Kate's brother pummel him. Anything was better than the guilt and grief he was presently feeling.  
  
He had barely known Kate, and, yet, he felt that he did. He knew that she had been important to him in his past life and he had the feeling that it soon would have been the case in this one as well. Her kindness, courage and strength had been more than obvious. He would have recognized them even without having made a connection with her the day before.  
  
She was one of them. And now she was gone.  
  
What had gone wrong? This wasn't supposed to happen. He had been afraid coming here, but he had never really doubted that they would all come of it alive. No one was supposed to [I]die.[/I] He had not even thought of the possibility that some of them might not come back. He was the healer. He was supposed to be able to save them. If he couldn't, what was the point of even possessing this gift?  
  
"We need to get out of here."  
  
The silence that had fallen over the room when they all realized that Kate could not be saved was broken by Whittaker.  
  
It brought Max back to himself. He didn't have time to grieve for Kate right now. As much as they all wanted to, it was not the moment. It was his job to make sure that the rest of them got out of there alive. He looked to his left, where Nasedo's body, in the form of Agent Pierce, lay in a heap. It was the first time Max had noticed him there. He shuddered, whether in disgust or because of a remnant of the horror that face still engendered, he couldn't be sure.  
  
"There is no rush," Grant said mildly. "The guards are contained." Max glanced at the guard standing in the doorway, looked at Grant again, raising his eyebrows. "Rylan is loyal to Ava," the shapeshifter told him. He stared at Max, then at Tess to include her. Max understood abruptly that they shouldn't reveal to the guard that they knew that Tess wasn't really Max's Knosian bride. "The rest of them will be too when they understand that Nasedo was threatening her," Grant added. "They are all from Knosis."  
  
"What about Nasedo?" Isabel demanded. Max's sister was kneeling beside Alex, her arm around his shoulders. Their dark-haired friend was still holding Kate's lifeless body tenderly, his head lowered. "What are we going to do with him?"  
  
"He will no longer be a problem," Grant told her grimly. And, then, before any of them could say or do anything, he had moved to Nasedo's side. Dropping down beside the unconscious shapeshifter, Grant placed his hand firmly on his fellow shapeshifter's chest and burnt a hole right through him. Max felt his eyes widen as Nasedo shifted, seemingly by reflex, to the infamous large-eyed, grey alien shape - and then disintegrated into a pile of dust.  
  
Max met Isabel's gaze. She looked as shocked as he felt. "No one told you to do that," Max said, his voice steadier than he expected it to be.  
  
"This is war, your highness," Grant told him. "There is no quarter to be given. He would not have given you any. In fact, he has not. He has made it his life's work to assure that you never reclaim your throne." He looked around at the assembled group, including them all in his statement. "This is true of any of you. Once he had his hands on all of you, it would have been the end of any hope of healing the breach in our galaxy."  
  
Max swallowed, looked at Will, who was standing stiffly next to Whittaker. He was staring unseeing in front of him, his lack of concern about any of this quite obvious.  
  
"He is right, Zan." Max frowned at Whittaker, who spoke softly. "He would have only come after you again. There was no choice."  
  
"Then why didn't you do it a long time ago?" Isabel demanded, glaring at Grant. "You're our protector? Some job you've been doing!"  
  
Max saw Grant flinch. "I have been protecting you to the best of my ability princess," he said quietly. "Nasedo could not die until I was sure exactly where everyone's loyalties lay." He glanced briefly at Will, frowned, then looked at Whittaker. "There is no more doubt. We are all on the same side."  
  
"Then why did [I]she[/I] kidnap Tess?" Isabel was unwilling to let Grant off so easily. Max wondered how his sister was dealing with the fact that the man she had been dating had been lying about his true identity. And she didn't even know about his real interest in her. Max felt a flash of disgust. He didn't want Isabel to have anything to do with Grant after this was all over, but there was no doubt that his sister had been attracted to him. He, Max, might not have any say in the matter.  
  
Grant glanced at the guard standing next to him again, then at Tess, who was watching the whole scene with a slightly bewildered expression on her pretty face. "We cannot get into that now," he stated firmly. "Let it go."  
  
"I won't!" Isabel snapped. "I'm tired of being lied to!"  
  
"Isabel," Max interrupted. She glared at him, opened her mouth to argue again. "Not now. Please." Her mouth snapped shut, but her dark eyes continued to glint with her outrage.  
  
"I'm sorry, Isabel," Whittaker said, her voice reflecting that she meant it. "It will all become clear in time. For now, we need to get Kate back to the granolith."  
  
Max started. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before himself.  
  
[I]The granolith is life.[/I]  
  
Kate's words filtered through his mind, lightening his heart in a way he had never expected to feel again. Not after losing one of their own because he had been too confident in his own ability to protect them all. That with him around, none of them could ever die.  
  
He had learned a valuable lesson here today, but the feeling that Whittaker's reminder gave birth to meant that maybe it wouldn't be at the expense of someone who did not deserve to die. Not again.  
  
Because what he was feeling was hope. Maybe it could still all be fixed.  
  
Max had been sure that he was going to carry the burden of Kate's innocent death for the rest of his life. Was there a chance that it didn't have to be permanent?  
  
"Can she." He trailed off, barely daring to voice the words. He didn't want to get anyone's hopes up after all.  
  
Whittaker's blue eyes met his. "Yes," she said. "She can be brought back. But it must be soon, or I'm going to have to start from scratch. This human body won't remain viable to receive her essence for very long."  
  
Alex's head had snapped up at the words, [I]She can be brought back.[/I] Max watched his friend's face light up as Whittaker spoke. He looked at Isabel, who was watching Alex, a strangely resigned expression on her face. Max frowned slightly. He hoped that his sister wasn't beginning to realize what she had let slip away from her. It was obvious that something good had grown between Kate and Alex, but the idea that his sister might be hurt by it saddened him. And, yet, he did understand that perhaps it was no less than Isabel deserved. He loved his sister, but she had not treated Alex very well over the last months.  
  
Of course, none of this mattered unless Kate could be brought back. He couldn't believe he was even wasting his time thinking about it.  
  
"Let's get out of here," Max said, determined that, in spite of what it might mean for all of them in the long run, Kate Spencer would get her second - well, third, he amended wryly to himself - chance at life.  
  
Grant commandeered one of Nasedo's vehicles for the drive back to the pod chamber. Max was relieved. It meant that he, Isabel and Tess could ride together in the Jeep. He wanted the chance to talk to his sister alone.  
  
It was not meant to be though. They had freed the remaining Knosians from their cells, Tess ordering them to stand down and remain in the compound until she returned. They complied to this only after it was agreed that Rylan would accompany her to the pod chamber. Max had a feeling that this would not turn out to be a positive. They were going to have to get rid of him at some point, because they wouldn't be able to talk freely with him around. Once he found out that Tess wasn't really Ava, there would likely be hell to pay.  
  
Max wasn't happy about letting Alex ride in the truck with Will, Jack, Whittaker and Grant either, but his friend refused to leave Kate. Since they couldn't exactly expect Will and Jack not to ride with her, Max was forced to allow it. He had a feeling that Alex wouldn't have taken orders from him anyway. Alex had changed over the past few days, becoming more sure of himself and entirely self-reliant. Will and Jack seemed to trust him far more than the rest of them anyway.  
  
It struck Max abruptly that Kate's revival wasn't only necessary for her own sake. Although one might have assumed that it was Liz that held their tentative alliance with the Sardicans firm, in reality, Kate was just as important. They were all slipping naturally into the roles they had played in their past lives without even noticing.  
  
Max wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.  
  
He was about to put the Jeep into gear when Whittaker appeared at his elbow. He turned his head and stared at her, aware of Isabel stiffening beside him in the passenger seat.  
  
"Can I come with you?" She asked. "There are some things we need to discuss before we get back there."  
  
Max narrowed his eyes and examined her carefully. He had no idea who she was, really. And, yet, her steady gaze convinced him to say, "Get in."  
  
They all sat silently for several long minutes, until Max pulled onto the highway.  
  
"So, I suppose you're wondering who I am?" Whittaker finally asked.  
  
"I'm wondering why you're still alive," Isabel snapped, turning her head and glaring at the "congresswoman."  
  
"I think I can explain that," Tess said meekly from her seat in the middle, Rylan on her left and Whittaker on her left. "I'm sorry Isabel. That was me. I made you think you'd done it."  
  
"What?" Isabel exclaimed.  
  
Max felt his jaw tighten. He didn't say anything though, just glanced at Tess in the rear-view mirror. She met his eyes, her dismay obvious.  
  
"I forgot to mention one other time I might have messed with you guys," she admitted. "I'm sorry, Max. I swear I just forgot. I really [I]was[/I] kidnapped. But by the time Isabel came to find me, Nasedo had replaced Whittaker. That was when he took her captive."  
  
Max sighed. "Fine, Tess. I believe you." He could feel Isabel's eyes on him, glanced at his sister. She was staring at him incredulously. He didn't blame her. But, then, she had missed a lot while she had been held by Nasedo. "Iz, trust me. It's a [I]long[/I] story." He raised his eyebrows meaningfully, nodding slightly in the direction of Rylan, who was already eyeing him suspiciously, as though ready to jump to Tess's defense.  
  
Isabel pressed her lips together, but nodded slightly. She was much more interested in interrogating Whittaker anyway, as was proven by her next question. "Why did you kidnap Tess? Who [I]are[/I] you? You're obviously not a Skin," she added pointedly.  
  
Max blinked, but kept his eyes on the road. He realized that Isabel was right though. There had been absolutely no indication that Whittaker was peeling away. But the Skins [I]had[/I] covered for her in Copper Summit. She had to be linked to them somehow.  
  
"I don't wear a skin," Whittaker explained patiently. "I'm not Sardican in my make-up. I don't need one."  
  
"So, you're a shapeshifter?" Isabel prompted. "Is that why you look human?"  
  
"No, I'm Valonian. I look human because that is the form you expect to see."  
  
Max glanced at Isabel again. She looked as confused by that as he felt. "What?"  
  
"Valonians are not shapeshifters. We are a race born to mediate. We have always been the balancing planet in our galaxy, a race of diplomats. For that reason, we have the ability to appear to others as they would like us to appear."  
  
Isabel gasped slightly. "Max! Doesn't that remind you of something?"  
  
He shrugged, having no idea what she was talking about. "Should it?"  
  
"Don't you remember what our mother said to us in the orb message?" Isabel demanded, sounding annoyed.  
  
Max grimaced. He realized that he didn't really remember very well at all. He had been trying to forget it ever since, after all. Not to mention, immediately following having heard it that one and only time, Liz had ripped his heart right out of his chest, so he thought he could be forgiven for having been a bit preoccupied. "Er."  
  
Isabel sighed in exasperation. "She told us that she looked human because it would make us feel more comfortable!"  
  
"That would make sense," Whittaker assured her. "Your mother was Valonian. She was the king's distant cousin. It was she who arranged your betrothal to Rath."  
  
Max could see that Isabel was fascinated by this piece of information. Max found it interesting, but he was sure not in the same way his sister did. Diane Evans was his mother. He was more concerned with finding out exactly what it meant that Whittaker admitted that she was Valonian - the same race as Rowena.  
  
Max took a deep breath, then blurted, "Nasedo said into the radio that he was dealing with [I]Rowena.[/I]"  
  
"I'm not Rowena," Whittaker replied. She sounded so firm about it, that Max glanced back at her over his shoulder. She was staring at him, her gaze completely open and honest. "Rowena is dead. She died on Valonia when Zan's clone had it destroyed."  
  
"So then Grant was telling the truth about that?" Tess asked. "That wasn't really Zan?"  
  
"No," Whittaker assured her.  
  
"That's it?" Max demanded. "No?"  
  
"I won't go into it now," Whittaker explained. "You will learn it all yourself through the granolith. It will convince you of the truth better than I ever could." Max heard the compassion in her voice, wondered at it. He was surprised when she continued, "I know it troubles you, Max, all the stories you have likely heard over the past few days about how horrible Zan was. If I could have stopped Will and the others from making contact with you when I could not be there, I would have. They do not know the whole truth either. I was mistaken to live away from them as I did. Nicholas was a little too vehement in his support of my husband."  
  
"Your husband?"  
  
"Khivar," she said quietly.  
  
"Khivar is your husband?" Tess exclaimed. "Then that means." She trailed off, glanced at Rylan, then shut her mouth with a snap.  
  
Max watched in the rear-view mirror as Whittaker reached out and picked up Tess's hand. "Yes. You know who I am. And now I know who [I]you[/I] are. It's why I kidnapped you. To know for sure, although I suspected some of what had happened by what Liz told me when she was working with me. Nasedo wanted to make sure I didn't get the chance to find out the truth. It was why he took me then. He thought me a Skin up to that point. It was a very grave error, but once I knew for certain that Liz was who she is, I had to know about you, Tess. About how it all got so mixed up."  
  
Max glanced at Rylan nervously. The last thing they needed was for some Knosian bodyguard to flip out on them. "You found out she's Ava," he reminded her sternly.  
  
Whittaker simply smiled. "Indeed." Max was relieved. It was obvious that she had been in no way about to blow Tess's cover. "Anyway, I hope that I have said enough to let you know that you can trust me." This was directed at Max.  
  
Isabel shifted in her seat, sighing in frustration. "I don't feel like I know [I]anything[/I]. God! I missed so much."  
  
"You will know, Isabel. I guarantee it," Whittaker reassured her. "The granolith will heal you and you will know, once and for all, who you really are."  
  
Max felt a rush of guilt. With Kate and all that had followed, he had completely forgotten that his sister had been gravely tampered with during her captivity. "Iz, are you okay?"  
  
"As long as I know that this emptiness will go away," Isabel replied, her voice trembling slightly, "I'll be fine." Max reached out and took her hand, squeezing it lightly before letting her go again. He sometimes could not believe how strong his sister was. His will to protect her often made him forget. He knew, better than anyone, how vulnerable she really was under her ice queen persona. Yet, he was reassured that she would get through this intact - and that included whatever she might be feeling about Alex and Kate. She was strong enough to survive this.  
  
"There will be no room for emptiness once you have experienced the granolith," Whittaker said. "It will not only heal you individually, for the granolith will only operate with all eight of you in its presence. It will tie you to each other with bonds so strong, they will never be broken again. The granolith - and the eight of you who will join together through it - are the very hope for the future of our entire galaxy."  
  
Max swallowed, stared out the front windshield. He wondered what she'd say if he told her that he wasn't particularly interested in being the 'hope of an entire galaxy.' That all he really wanted was to be with Liz and to secure the safety of the people he loved.  
  
But, he also knew that those things would ever happen if he refused the granolith. Because there really wasn't a choice, was there? The granolith was his destiny. He could not curse his sister and Jack to a lifetime without the core of their being, nor would he even bear the thought that they leave Kate dead.  
  
He could not run away. Not again. Not like he had in his last lifetime.  
  
No wonder Zan had hated being a king. From the very moment of his birth, his life had not belonged to him at all.  
  
Max shook his head hard. He was starting to feel sorry for himself. He had to stop that. Because, in the end, none of this was just about [I]him.[/I] It never had been. It was the mistake Zan had made before, the refusal to accept that sometimes actions had consequences far beyond what could be foreseen at the time. The inability to see past his own problems to how others were affected. It was the mistake that Max was determined not to make again.  
  
He abruptly remembered something his history teacher had said at the very beginning of the term. Max hadn't been paying close attention to school work lately, but he did like history, even more since their study of the Cuban Missile Crisis had helped him to make one of the few right decisions he had since he had found out he was a king.  
  
Mr. LeFeber had said that if people didn't learn from it, history always repeated itself. At the time, Max had questioned that statement. He didn't think it was possible that people could ignore their history, that they always remembered it. And if they remembered it, didn't they have to learn from it?  
  
And, yet, he could see that he and the rest of his fellow aliens had already traveled far down the same road they had taken in their past lives. He more than anyone. They may have not known anything about their history at first, but even as they had learned more, they had still refused to accept that some things just could not be denied - or changed.  
  
Zan had not wanted to be king, and so he had given up his throne. Whether on purpose or by the actions of others, he had not ruled himself and it had resulted in disaster. Everyone he had loved had died and his world was in chaos to this very day. Max knew because of Liz's visit from that future version of himself that it was entirely possible that it could happen here too, on his new world, his new [I]home.[/I] That a decision to ignore his destiny could result in the end of the world.  
  
His destiny might no longer include Tess, but the crux of his future had not changed. He had always overlooked the most important aspect of what his destiny meant, always so concerned about Liz and how it might be affecting her.  
  
He was a king. He didn't [I]want[/I] to be a king, but he was. Accepting it couldn't be just about trying to avoid being killed. It meant much more than that. It meant millions upon millions of people expecting him to do the right thing, to see past his own petty concerns and even past his not- so-petty concerns in order to think about what was the best way to protect them.  
  
It was time to step up to the plate and accept that sometimes, even though it sucked, destiny just had to be accepted. That every once in a while you just had to see beyond yourself to the big picture.  
  
He still did not want to be king. But he knew that he had no choice. He would join with the others and he would go back to Antar.  
  
There was no choice. Not any longer. But, then, in the end, there never had been.  
  
And, so, finally, he would make it [I]his[/I] choice to do it well. 


	42. Chapter 42

[u]Part 42[/u]  
  
"Guerin, if you don't stop that, I'm going to kick your ass, Buddha be damned," Kyle exclaimed, making Liz heave a sigh of relief. Michael's pacing had slowly been driving her insane too. In fact, she was beginning to get a head-ache from watching him. He had been at it since they had climbed out of the granolith close to half an hour before.  
  
"Language, Kyle," the sheriff said mildly from the corner where he stood against the wall, his arms folded across his chest, his patience clearly greater than either Kyle or Liz's. Liz watched Kyle give his dad an incredulous look, as though not quite believing that his father was bothering to comment on his choice of words when they were presently in the middle of an alien crisis. Liz raised her hand and covered a smile just in time. Max had been right earlier when he'd said that if they didn't keep their senses of humour, they were all going to go crazy.  
  
"I still don't understand why we can't just [I]try[/I]," Michael complained, having thankfully paused in the midst of his 3000th trek back across the pod chamber, although apparently refusing to dignify Kyle with an answer. He was staring right at Liz, a scowl on his face.  
  
"Michael," Liz sighed. "I told Max that we were going to try and figure the granolith out, but it's wrong to mess with it any further until everyone's here. We've already gone over this."  
  
And they had. What was still amazing to Liz was that Michael had [I]listened[/I] to her. She had told him not to touch anything and he had complied, even though it was obviously the last thing he wanted to do. She wasn't quite sure what it meant, but it made her a little uncomfortable. She remembered what Maria had told her about Michael calling her "the queen" earlier. She still hadn't quite adjusted to the idea that she was indeed a leader of some sort. Not only that, she was apparently a leader Michael had chosen to obey.  
  
It was beyond weird.  
  
"Plus it might be dangerous, Mr. Guerin," the sheriff was adding. "I prefer to wait until we have Grant Sorenson back here so that he can confirm that the room we found will make the granolith work."  
  
"That's ridiculous," Michael replied, obviously trying to modify his tone while addressing the sheriff, but still sounding a little rude. "He admitted himself that he doesn't know how to make it run."  
  
"Be that as it may." The sheriff shrugged. "Humour me. At least let me pretend that you need an adult of some sort around."  
  
Liz grimaced, exchanged a glance with Maria, who raised her eyebrows. That had been a little pointed. Liz couldn't blame the sheriff for being annoyed at them though. They [I]had[/I] been keeping him out of the loop lately.  
  
"Sheriff." she started, deciding that she owed him an apology on behalf of all of them.  
  
His blue-eyed gaze met hers kindly. "Don't worry about it, Miss Parker," he reassured her. "I get that maybe I'm more of a nuisance than a help sometimes. I appreciate Max trying to protect me, but I'm in this by choice. I've [I]always[/I] been in by choice. If it takes some more time for you all to accept that completely, I understand."  
  
"It's not that we don't trust you sheriff," Liz replied. "Really it isn't. Max just doesn't want you to end up in a situation where you find your loyalties divided." She sighed. "We haven't always been completely law- abiding after all."  
  
"It seems to me that the law hasn't always been abiding either," Valenti reminded her mildly. "When the FBI did what they did to Max last spring, my loyalty was decided once and for all. You kids need someone working with you, not against you. I want to do what I can, but, in order for that to happen, I need some cooperation."  
  
Liz glanced at Kyle, who shrugged. "I'll talk to Max," she promised. "He just finds it really hard to ask for help."  
  
"Well, he made a step in that direction tonight by getting Kyle to call me," the sheriff told her. "Maybe he's learning."  
  
"We're all learning a hell of a lot more than we ever wanted to," Michael muttered. "Not that's it done us any good so far."  
  
"Michael, will you just give it a rest?" Maria snapped. "You're going to get your bloody answers! Why can't you wait like everyone else? I mean, aren't you even worried about them? They should have been back by now!"  
  
Michael looked at her in surprise, then scowled. "Of course I'm worried! Why do you think I'm focusing on the fricking granolith? I'm trying to keep my mind off of it! My entire family is out there, Maria."  
  
"My best friend is out there, Michael! And he's the only one Nasedo has no need to keep alive. Has that even crossed your mind? That Alex might [I]die[/I] because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time?"  
  
"What are you saying, Maria?" Michael demanded. "I've told you a thousand times it's not safe being with me - with any human to be with us. Are you saying you want out? Because if you want out, then get the hell out! I wasn't the one who asked you to be here! If I remember correctly, you made that choice yourself! I've been trying to keep you out of this from the very beginning."  
  
Liz felt her eyes widen. "Michael." She warned. She could see that his face was already reddening though, like he knew he'd gone too far.  
  
It was clear, however, that Maria wasn't upset. She was too angry. Liz could practically see steam coming out of her best friend's ears.  
  
"Buddha, have mercy," Kyle muttered. "What have I done to deserve having to listen to this?"  
  
"Guys, can we just chill please?" Liz tried again. "They're going to be back soon. I know they are. We're getting all worked up here. It's not doing us any good to freak out on each other just because we're worried."  
  
Maria turned her back on Michael, folding her arms over her chest, and looking at Liz. "I'm sorry, Lizzie, but he just drives me nuts sometimes." She looked over her shoulder at Michael and added pointedly, "I'm going to completely ignore everything he just said because I know he didn't mean a word of it, even if he wants me to think he did."  
  
Michael pressed his lips together, as though willing himself not to say anything further. Liz knew that the only reason he was doing it was because Maria was right. They all settled back into a tense silence. Liz saw Kyle roll his eyes when Michael started to pace again.  
  
Fortunately for them all, it was no more than five minutes later that Liz perked up, her entire mood brightening. "They're back!" She exclaimed. She could feel Max's presence, knew that he was nearby. In fact, not two minutes later, the entrance to the pod chamber slid open, bringing the sun with it. Liz didn't even notice that day had come again though. She was across the pod chamber and in Max's arms before he even had a chance to straighten completely.  
  
While she had known deep within her that she would have felt it if something had happened to him, it was still reassuring to be able to touch him, to [I]know[/I] with certainty that he had returned to her in one piece. She hugged him tightly, breathing him in, her relief so great, she hadn't realized how truly worried she was until now.  
  
"I'm okay," he whispered. "Everything's okay."  
  
It was clear when she finally pulled back that this wasn't entirely true. She turned her head, slightly uncomfortable for some reason. It wasn't unexpected to discover that someone was staring at her. She met Will's blue eyes, blushed at the intensity with which his gaze was piercing her. She realized that this was the first time he had truly seen her with Max. The only other time they had all been in the same company, she had thought she was Serena and had been staying as far away from Max as physically possible.  
  
Liz looked away from Will, biting her lip. She felt Max take her hand, squeeze reassuringly, as though he understood exactly what she was thinking. She felt a rush of love for him, returned her gaze to Will, almost defiant. He was going to have to accept that whatever he might have thought about her in the past, she was not his wife. In fact, Rowena never had been. She felt sorry for him, but it didn't mean that she was going to hide her true feelings for Max. She had spent far too much time trying to pretend that he wasn't her entire world. She would never do it again - not for anyone.  
  
Will's expression remained stony, but he looked away first.  
  
It was then that Liz took the time to glance around the pod chamber, which was now practically bursting at the seams, with so many new people in it.  
  
She felt her eyes widen as she took in Congresswoman Whittaker's unexpected presence. She wasn't entirely surprised though. There had been so many crazy revelations over the past few days, nothing shocked her now.  
  
Alex was standing nearby, Maria still clinging to him, as though not quite believing that he was really there. Liz wanted to hug him, but she could see that he was pre-occupied. She gasped slightly when she understood why. Jack and a man Liz didn't recognize were gently laying Kate's lifeless body on the ground near the pods.  
  
"Oh my God," Liz whispered, looking up at Max for an explanation. She could see the strain around his eyes as he ran a weary hand through his dark hair.  
  
"Serena says she'll be okay," Max said reassuringly, although Liz wondered if he was really trying to convince himself.  
  
"Serena?" She asked, glancing over at Tess, who was standing near Kyle, the man Liz didn't recognize now hovering behind her. Tess met her eyes, shook her blonde head once, firmly, then looked at Whittaker.  
  
The congresswoman smiled at Liz. "I'm Serena, Liz."  
  
This was apparently news to Will and Jack as well, because they both turned their heads to stare at her. She nodded. "It's true, boys. I am Serena of Valonia."  
  
"Who the hell is Serena of Valonia?" Will demanded, his eyes narrowed. "Your name is Venora."  
  
"It is not," she told him quietly. "Venora is an identity Nicholas and I came up with until you were ready to hear the truth."  
  
"Are you even Sardican?" Jack asked, his tone less confrontational than Will's.  
  
"No," Whittaker replied. "I am Valonian." She lowered her gaze for a moment, then continued quickly, "I am Rowena's clone."  
  
Liz grimaced. She watched Will's entire body go rigid with shock. She had a feeling that this was not going to go well at all. The dark-haired boy had seemed on the verge of completely losing it when she had met his eyes before. Now he started shaking slightly, as though barely controlling himself. Liz didn't blame him. His sister was apparently dead; she, Liz had no intention of being with him; and, now, he was being told that his wife had been cloned. "Um.You know what? I think I need to talk to Will - alone. Is it safe to go outside?"  
  
Liz felt Max tense through where they were still joined by their hands. "It's okay," she said to him softly, looking up and meeting his eyes.  
  
He frowned slightly, but nodded, "It's safe." He looked at Whittaker. "Let Liz tell him the truth. You and I need to get the granolith ready."  
  
"Oh, that reminds me," Liz said. She had already moved away from Max, had taken Will by the hand and was leading him towards the pod chamber entrance. He slipped away from her in her distraction, preceding her out. "We found out how to make the granolith work. Well, Maria did," she amended. Liz glanced at Michael, smiled slightly. "Michael can show you." And, then, she realized even that wasn't necessary. "Or I guess Serena can." She looked over at Whittaker, who was still watching Will, a worried expression on her face. She seemed to become aware of Liz's regard, however, and nodded.  
  
Meeting Max's gaze once more, Liz smiled at him reassuringly. He was still frowning, but he managed to smile back.  
  
Moments later she was breathing the fresh air of a bright New Mexico morning. She had been in the pod chamber for close to half a day. It was a relief to get out of there. Not that she was particularly excited to have this conversation. But she was looking for small blessings.  
  
Having exited the pod chamber before her, when Liz emerged, Will was standing on the edge of the cliff, staring off into the distance. Now he turned back, his expression inscrutable again.  
  
"So, what are you supposed to be explaining to me?" Will asked. He was no longer confrontational, or even upset. He just sounded exhausted. "My sister is dead. My wife is in love with my enemy. I think I pretty much get it."  
  
"You don't get it," Liz told him firmly. She wasn't going to beat around the bush with him. He needed to know the truth and he needed it now, before this entire affair became even more entangled. "I'm not your wife, Will. I was [I]never[/I] your wife. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but it's the truth. Rowena and Khivar were never married."  
  
He stared at her dully. "Really? Oh well, then, everything's fine. I'll just turn off all these memories and everything will be great." His tone was sarcastic, but Liz could tell that he didn't really mean it - that he didn't really [I]care[/I] anymore.  
  
"You don't understand," Liz said, softening slightly. "Your memories are real. Khivar [I]thought[/I] he was married to Rowena, but he was really married to her clone. To Serena. He was deceived. " She paused briefly, then decided that he had to know everything. "Tess is Serena."  
  
"What?" Will demanded. That had gotten a reaction. In fact, he was beginning to look at her like she might be insane.  
  
"It's true." She stepped forward, reached out and took his hand, no longer able to bear how solitary he seemed. "The marriage scarf that you gave me.It made her remember."  
  
"That makes no sense," he insisted. "She's Ava. Why would they send two Rowenas? Zan was married to Ava."  
  
"Don't you understand?" Liz asked. "There were always two of them. Rowena cloned herself and sent her clone to be your wife."  
  
"Why? Why would she do that?" Will demanded. "She loved me."  
  
Liz lowered her gaze, searching for a way to make him understand. "She did love Khivar, Will. She wanted him to be happy, but she knew that she could never make him happy. Because she didn't love him in the same way he loved her. She couldn't."  
  
There was a long moment of silence. She raised her eyes to meet his. He was staring at her, comprehension dawning on her face. "They were right," he finally muttered, "I can't believe it, but they actually guessed right. I should have known. When has she [I]ever[/I] been wrong?"  
  
"Who?" Liz asked, concerned by the way his face was freezing over.  
  
"Kate and Alex," Will replied. "They guessed that this was what happened. That Rowena was in love with Zan. I couldn't believe it because I [I]remember[/I] the way she was with me." He shook his head. "But it wasn't even her. No wonder."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
He focused on her, frowned. "Why are [I]you[/I] sorry? It's not your fault, Liz. None of this has ever been your fault."  
  
"But, in a way, it is my fault," Liz argued. "I'm [I]her[/I]."  
  
"No," Will insisted. "You're not. I'm only beginning to realize how much we [I]aren't[/I] them." He pulled his hand from hers, moved away, stared out across the desert again.  
  
Liz watched him silently for a few moments. She could see the tension in the line of his back, wondered what he was thinking. Finally, she couldn't wait any longer. After all, they only had a limited amount of time. Soon they were going to have to return to the pod chamber - return to the granolith - and they would know the truth once and for all.  
  
"Will?" She asked tentatively.  
  
He didn't turn to look at her, but he started to speak quietly - so quietly, Liz had to step forward in order to hear him. "I knew. Somehow I've known all along. But I ignored what I knew to be true from the moment I understood that you were in love with him. I was sure that he had tricked you, or was using you. And, so, I played dirty."  
  
Liz felt her heart go out to him. "Will, you didn't. You've only ever been kind to me. I knew from the moment I met you that you would never hurt me, that I could trust you."  
  
He turned, his eyes fierce. "You don't understand. You [I]can't[/I] trust me. I'm an awful person. You have no idea the stuff I've done, Liz."  
  
"It can't be [I]that[/I] bad," Liz insisted. She couldn't have been so wrong about him, could she? She had felt attached to him from the moment she met him and her gift was supposed to be the ability to truly [I]see[/I] people. It was why she had never allowed her friends' doubts about him to sway her belief that he would never hurt her. And, yet, now here he was admitting that he had. She was already beginning to feel a little scared. What [I]had[/I] he done?  
  
"Liz, I gave you that scarf knowing full well what it could do to you," Will told her.  
  
Liz felt her eyes widen. "What?" She gasped.  
  
"I thought you were Rowena, and I knew that it might bring her out, that you might get lost in the process. Nicholas told me that when he gave it to me. I wanted you so badly, I was willing to do anything to make you remember me. The fact that it didn't doesn't make it any better. "  
  
She took a step backwards, disbelieving. "Oh my God. Will!"  
  
"I'm sorry," he said, looking away again. "I know you won't believe it, but I am sorry. I'm just glad you weren't hurt."  
  
"Will, it [I]did[/I] work," Liz told him. "I can't believe you did that to me!"  
  
He stared at her. "It worked? I don't understand."  
  
"All of yesterday, I was someone else. The only one who knew it was Max. He knows me so well, he could tell almost immediately. What happened only confirmed what I'm telling you now. I wasn't Rowena when it happened. I was [I]Serena.[/I] For a while, I was your wife, but it wasn't [I]me.[/I]"  
  
She watched him carefully as he absorbed this. He looked momentarily shocked, and then just confused. Finally, he sighed. "I'm just so sorry, Liz. You have no idea how sorry I am," he finished bitterly. He met her eyes. "Because that wasn't all I did. When that didn't work, I did something even worse."  
  
Liz closed her eyes for a moment. Her emotions were in turmoil. She could not grasp the depth of the betrayal that Will had perpetrated on her trust by giving her that scarf. And there was still more. How could it be any worse?  
  
"I know that you're going to hate me after I finish telling you everything, but you need to know," Will said firmly. "I can't hide it any longer. It will all come out in the granolith anyway and, if not then, when we bring Kate back, she'll tell you."  
  
"Kate is in on this?" Liz demanded.  
  
"No," Will insisted. "But right before.Before what happened to her, I think she figured it out." His voice cracked and he looked down again. Liz was amazed that she could still feel sorry for him. He really was something of a monster, and, yet, she did believe that he had done whatever it was he had done out of some twisted sense of love for her. "I think Alex might eventually figure it out too," he added, his voice strengthening a bit as he got a hold of himself. "I made a mistake in front of him. He'll likely remember when Kate is brought back. He's too focused on her right now."  
  
"Tell me," Liz prompted firmly, her heart now filled with dread. [I]How could I have been so wrong? How could I have been so wrong?[/I] It was like a death tattoo beating in her head. She had been so sure of him, so trusting. [I]How could I have been so wrong?[/I]  
  
"When Nasedo first took us.Me, Alex and Kate I mean.He was disguised as Tess. He knocked Kate and Alex out, but me.Me, he kept conscious," Will said, sounding far away, as he remembered. He looked at her briefly. "Please understand that I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me, and I'm not trying to excuse what I did, but he tortured me. He mindraped me, showing me things that nearly killed me."  
  
Liz felt tears fill her eyes. She remembered how Isabel had suffered in the message Nasedo had played for them. She still had no idea what the shapeshifter had done to Max's sister then, but she imagined it must have been terrible. That Will had experienced the same thing.She could believe that he might have agreed to do something awful to make it stop.  
  
"What did he show you?" She asked.  
  
"I think you can guess," Will told her. He met her gaze meaningfully. "With the way I feel about you, you can imagine what the worst possible thing for me to see would be."  
  
Liz felt her heart stop, and then she felt slightly nauseous. "Oh my God. Did he show me with.?" She trailed off, unable to imagine that her privacy had been so violated, even if what Nasedo had shown Will had likely not been anything that she and Max had ever even done anyway.  
  
"With Max," Will acknowledged. "But not only that. He showed me things from before - from our past lives I mean. Rowena with Zan. Things that I know now were probably true, but at the time I only imagined he was making me think could be true. Either way, I couldn't bear it. He got what he wanted from me."  
  
"What did he want?" Liz asked, although she was pretty sure she had already figured it out.  
  
"He wanted me to work with him to bring down Zan. Since it was the only thing I wanted anyway, I agreed," Will continued grimly. "I pretended to be his captive, but I was always free. The entire time I was in that compound, I could have escaped at any time."  
  
Liz couldn't say anything. She just stared at him in horror.  
  
"I never thought it would go so wrong. I [I]knew[/I] that he wanted us all alive." He paused, shook his head sharply. "But it's still no excuse," he added firmly. "What I'm telling you is that I could have left. That no one had to risk their lives coming for me, or Jack, or Isabel. That my gifts were fully accessible the entire time I was there. And now it's obvious that lives [I]were[/I] in danger. I let him take Alex, even when I was pretty sure that he was going to kill him. I didn't even try to intervene. I was so focused on saving you from Zan, on making you [I]remember[/I] that we belonged together, I was willing to do anything. I wanted Zan to come - because I knew he would - that he would come for Isabel and Alex - and I wanted him dead. I wanted the spell he was weaving over you broken and I was willing to do anything to get my way."  
  
Will looked down, his voice softening as he came to the crux of the matter. "But that's not even the worst part. Liz, when my sister was shot down in cold blood, the first thought that crossed my mind wasn't that she was going to die and that I loved her and that I was going to miss her. No, my obsession was still so complete, that wasn't the first thing that I felt." His voice cracked again and Liz could tell that he was really crying now. She didn't know what to do. She was angry and, yet, his regret was so obvious. He was punishing himself far better than she ever could. And when he continued, she understood why. "My first sense was one of relief. Because I knew that she was the only one who knew for sure that I had betrayed you all - that I had betrayed everything I was created to be. And, if she was gone, you'd never know."  
  
"Oh, Will." Liz knew there was nothing else to say. She couldn't even begin to imagine how he was going to live with himself after this. Because she knew him well enough to know that he would feel the guilt of this for the rest of his life.  
  
"Karma's a bitch, isn't it?" He said, beginning to sound a little wild, totally unlike himself. "Because I think I've known the truth all along. From the moment I understood what was between you and Max, I've known it. And because I refused to accept it, I'm going to have to live with the fact that I wanted my sister dead more than I wanted him to win."  
  
Will raised his haunted gaze to meet hers once more. "I'm going to have to live with the fact that I've allowed myself to become exactly the bastard I always took him for. The complete bastard I now know he never was." 


	43. Chapter 43

[u]Part 43[/u]  
  
"Here, Alex."  
  
Alex looked up. He was seated on the dirt floor of the pod chamber and had been staring off into space since Max, Michael and Whittaker had taken Kate's body into the granolith chamber. Maria joined him for a while, filling him in on the basics of what had been happening while he'd been gone, but she eventually went to talk to Isabel, seeming to understand that Alex wasn't really in the mood to converse.  
  
And, so, Alex was surprised to hear Isabel's voice now . She was standing over him, a sandwich in her outstretched hand.  
  
"Where'd that come from?" he asked, without interest.  
  
"The sheriff. He brought some food with him when he came."  
  
"Thanks Izzy, but I'm not hungry," he told her.  
  
"Alex, you need to eat something," Isabel insisted. "I'll bet you haven't even thought about food since yesterday. It's just been so crazy around here." She leaned back against the wall next to him, slid down until she was sitting beside him on the filthy ground. He smiled slightly to himself. The Elle MacPherson of the junior class didn't seem to mind getting her jeans dirty when it mattered.  
  
"Isabel, thanks, but I'm really not hungry." It was true. His stomach was in knots. While he believed Whittaker that Kate could be brought back, his nerves would not return to normal until she was alive and well and standing in front of him. He would eat then.  
  
Isabel sighed. "Alex."  
  
"Isabel, please," Alex snapped. "I said no."  
  
"I was just going to say," she continued firmly, "this isn't just about you. You need to keep your strength up for her too, you know. She's going to need you."  
  
Alex turned his head and stared at her. "Who?"  
  
"You know [I]who[/I] I'm talking about. Kate," Isabel replied quietly. "I have a feeling that dying is going to be a whole lot more difficult to deal with than any loss of an alien side has been. And I know how hard [I]that[/I] is. You helped me, Alex. Just being with you helped me. She's going to need that too." Isabel looked away, her voice barely audible. "She's lucky to have you."  
  
"Isabel, I don't even know what you're talking about," Alex told her. "Kate won't need me. She has Will, and she has Jack."  
  
"That may be true," Isabel told him, "but it's you who hasn't taken your eyes off of her since she's been gone. It's you she needs. And even if I don't know her very well, I have a feeling that it's you she'll want. I was there when she came to get us Alex. You were all she cared about."  
  
Alex met her eyes. He was surprised that Isabel would have noticed. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked. He couldn't deny that it was what he wanted to hear. It had only been after Kate was killed that he had understood exactly how much she had come to mean to him in the short time he'd known her. But he had never had a chance to find out if she felt the same way. His past experiences with alien princesses had told him to never take anything for granted, after all.  
  
"Because you deserve someone who isn't totally screwed up, Alex," Isabel said. "Someone who understands what she has from the very beginning. I don't really know her, but I have a feeling that Kate is that person."  
  
She sounded sad. Not for the first time, he wondered what was going through her beautiful blonde head. But, he realized, as much as he loved Isabel, for the moment, he really did have other things to worry about. If she wanted to support [I]him[/I] through something for once, well, he wasn't going to say no.  
  
"Thanks, Iz."  
  
"You're welcome." She handed him the sandwich and, as he ate it, they sat in comfortable silence.  
  
When he was done, Isabel reached out and took his hand in hers. She looked back across the pod chamber, to where Grant stood. He was talking to the sheriff, but his eyes were on them. When he became aware of Alex's regard, he turned his head quickly, focusing on Kyle's father again.  
  
"So, Maria told me a bit about who he is," Alex said tentatively. "What about you? Are you okay?"  
  
Isabel shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "It's just kind of weird. I mean, I liked him, but I wasn't crazy about him. He was more of an excuse to try and pretend I was normal. I guess it's romantic that he betrayed his entire race for me, but I don't even really know who he is. I have no idea what any of it even means." She turned her head and met his eyes again. "You do understand that, Alex, don't you? That Grant was about trying to pretend I'm not who I am?"  
  
Alex sighed. He wondered why Isabel's motivations over the past few months were so clear to him now, when he wasn't nearly as emotionally invested in her every move. He really could have used the insight he now had a week ago. "You wanted someone who didn't know anything about the abyss, am I right?"  
  
"How ironic is that?" She sighed again. "I mean, I've realized now that I'll never get majorly involved with someone who doesn't know the truth about me. It's just not fair to do that to anyone. Our lives don't even really belong to us. I know that too well now." She squeezed his hand. "But, I'm not ready to be that serious with anyone. That's why I backed off from you, Alex. It's because you know who I really am. With you, it would have been too much, too fast. I need to know who [I]I[/I] am first." She looked at him anxiously. "Does that make any sense?"  
  
"It totally does," Alex told her. "And I do understand, Isabel." He looked at her for a long moment, wondering whether he should just tell her the truth.  
  
Since they were being honest, he decided to go for broke. There was no way of knowing what the future might bring. The last forty-eight hours had more than proven that life - particularly alien life - was fragile. She was his best friend, his first love. He needed her to know how he felt. "I just wish you'd told me that from the very beginning. If you just want to be friends, I am totally fine with that. I love you. I'll always love you and I'll always be here for you."  
  
"I love you too, Alex," Isabel replied, tears in her dark eyes. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Maybe someday." She trailed off, suddenly sounding uncertain, but also a little hopeful.  
  
Alex frowned slightly again. Maybe. But he didn't think so. Not if things turned out the way he was beginning to realize he wanted them to. He just hoped that Isabel had been telling the truth earlier - that she was going to be able to handle him getting involved with someone else. Particularly with someone like Kate, who was so similar to Isabel in so many ways, and, yet, totally herself. Someone who was fine with her alien baggage, but seemed, if Isabel was right, ready to explore the more human side of living on Earth.  
  
He loved Isabel and he had not been lying when he'd said that he'd always be there for her. It was what he wanted, what he hoped would be possible. But, in the end, he knew that it might not play out that way. That he might be forced to make a choice and, that, he might not be able to choose her.  
  
Closing his eyes, Alex leaned back against the wall again, enjoying being close to Isabel one last time. There was time to worry about all the rest of it later. For now, while he waited for later, he needed her. And, for once, he was going to take what he needed, damning the consequences.  
  
***  
  
"I thought we needed all eight of us to make it work," Michael said. "If Kate's dead, how is she supposed to help?"  
  
Max looked at Whittaker, glad that Michael had been the one to ask the question. He would have thought of it himself eventually, but he was a little preoccupied. He was worried about Liz. He could feel that something upsetting was taking place between her and Will. Max's connection to her was burning stronger with every passing hour. He figured it had something to do with the granolith, and, maybe, also with the fact that all eight hybrids had finally been brought together in close proximity.  
  
Or it might just be that he fell a little more in love with her with every passing hour.  
  
Max wasn't sure how it could even happen, but it was the truth. Her joy at his return made his heart swell even now, just thinking of it, reminding him that once upon a time he had been unable to even imagine the possibility that she might someday feel as much for him as he did for her. That she did.It was humbling.  
  
He felt sorry for Will, which was why he had been amenable to Liz trying to explain things to him herself. While Liz would never [I]belong[/I] to anyone, she had chosen Max. He had lived through the experience of feeling that she had decided on someone else - the mere thought of the horrible night of the Gomez concert still sent a shiver down his spine - and he wouldn't wish it on anyone. Not even on his worst enemy, which Will clearly no longer was. Liz would try and break the news of all that had transpired - in this life and that other one - as gently as possible. But it would still suck for Will, no ifs,ands or buts about it. Max knew that he would never have been able to accept it had it been the other way around. He only hoped that Will's relatively short acquaintance with Liz would make it easier on him.  
  
He understood why Liz was upset. She never liked to hurt anyone. And Will was going to be hurt. But, in the end, it was better to be honest. Secrets and lies were what had gotten them all into this mess in the first place. The shapeshifters had excelled at both. He wouldn't allow the society they were going to try and rebuild suffer the same fate again because of them.  
  
"Her human body has died, but her alien essence lives on in the granolith," Whittaker explained patiently. "We'll use the healing stones to help guide it back into her body."  
  
Max exchanged a glance with Michael. "Is that how we healed Nasedo?" Michael asked, tilting his shaggy head back and staring up at the cone above them skeptically.  
  
Whittaker frowned. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Last spring, when they took Max," Michael explained. "He was killed. Tess told us that he couldn't die, that we could bring him back." He shrugged. "We used the stones and we did it. We were here. I just thought that, maybe."  
  
Whittaker didn't speak for a long moment, her eyes wide, as though thinking about it. Finally, she said, "That's strange. I guess you must have accessed some of the granolith's healing capabilities without even realizing it. The stones are a way to harness its power. Although, since Nasedo didn't know where the granolith was, I don't know how he would have known to have you bring him here." Shaking her head slowly, she seemed perplexed. "I'll admit, I don't understand the granolith fully myself."  
  
Max stared at her. "What? I thought you [I]invented[/I] it. Liz remembered that. The granolith belonged to Serena."  
  
Serena smiled slightly. "That's not entirely true. Rowena always gave me more credit than I deserved. The granolith existed on our planet long before I ever knew of it."  
  
Michael interrupted briefly, "You mean on Valonia?"  
  
"Yes. Its legend fascinated Rowena from the moment she became aware of it, as a young child. She was a queen, but she was a scientist, first and foremost. She wanted to understand everything, wanted to prove that all life had an explainable basis. To her, the granolith was the key to its secret meaning." Whittaker's eyes became unfocused, as she remembered her 'sister.' "But she never had enough time. Being heir to the throne took up more of her attention than she liked." She trailed off, sighing.  
  
And, finally, Max understood exactly how Serena had come to exist. "So she cloned herself so that she could literally be in two places at once," he finished for her, shaking his head in amazement. He still could not quite grasp the magnitude of what Rowena had done, the immensity of what she had set in motion with her curiousity.  
  
Whittaker looked at him seriously. "You make it sound like a bad thing," she commented. "My sister was brilliant. That she was even able to do such a thing."  
  
"She was messing with things beyond her comprehension. She brought about the destruction of her own planet."  
  
Max looked up, grimaced. Liz was standing slightly above them, obviously having heard the last bit. She had a slightly shell-shocked expression on her face. Max wondered if it was because of what she had just learned about her past life, or because of her conversation with Will.  
  
"Liz." He began, holding out his hand to her. "It's okay."  
  
She descended the last few steps without saying a word, coming to join him. "I know it is," she replied simply, although the bitterness of her tone seemed to indicate the complete opposite. "Because, really, in the end, this has nothing to do with me. I don't [I]remember[/I] being Rowena. Even Will has finally come to terms with the fact that we're no longer [I]them.[/I]"  
  
"But you are," Whittaker insisted. "You are Rowena, Liz. You must accept this. Without you - all of you," she added, looking at Michael and then Max, "our system is doomed to continue its downward spiral. The people will not emerge from the darkness until their rulers return to lead them to the light."  
  
"Their rulers were the ones who turned the lights [I]off[/I]," Liz snapped. "They don't need us."  
  
"You're wrong. Our society was on the verge of a golden age, the cooperation between its inhabitants at its peak. This was because of who you all were, because of the relationships you had formed and the vision you all had for what could be. The shapeshifters ruined everything. They were the most trusted beings in our system and they used that to infiltrate everywhere. Including on Valonia, where Rowena was working to answer the last questions of our civilization."  
  
"If things were as rosy as you say, the shapeshifters shouldn't have had any power at all," Liz told her. Her voice was sharp, uncompromising. "We all know how quickly the bonds between Sardica and Antar broke down. And that was Rowena's fault too. Not only was she trying to play God, she brought two other planets to their knees with her games."  
  
Max could feel her tension through their connection. "Liz, what's wrong?" He asked under his breath. Things had clearly gone very badly with Will. Before their conversation, Liz had been much more accepting of who Rowena had been. Now she seemed determined to believe the absolute worst of her past-life alter-ego again. Although she had said moments ago that their actions in their past lives could not be blamed on them now, he could tell that she was beating herself up about something. And if it wasn't Rowena, about what she had done to Will, then what was it? "What did he say to you?"  
  
"He didn't say anything," Liz replied, pulling her hand from his. She crossed her arms over her chest, as though she was cold. "I just want this over with. Can we please just do this?"  
  
"Liz." There was absolutely no way he was doing anything until she told him what had happened between her and Will.  
  
"Max, please." She turned her head, met his eyes. He could see the glimmer of tears shining in their dark depths. "Can we [I]please[/I] just do this?" she repeated. "I'm tired. I'm just so tired of talking and analyzing. I just want to [I]know[/I] the truth. I want to know, once and for all, exactly who I was. I'm telling you that we [I]need[/I] to bring Kate back, now, before this gets any worse."  
  
He frowned. "Liz, I don't know. Are you sure?" He was seriously disturbed about letting her do anything at the present time, when she was so obviously upset. Why wouldn't she tell him what Will had said?  
  
"I'm sure. Please, Max."  
  
Max looked at Michael, who shrugged, obviously as perplexed as Max felt. Max could see that Whittaker was frowning, as though she wanted to argue further with Liz, to convince her that what Rowena had done had been good, that it had been others who had twisted her scientific achievements to be used for their own nefarious purposes.  
  
But, in the end, Liz was right. Nothing could convince her better than knowing for herself. They [I]needed[/I] their memories back. They could not wait any longer.  
  
Max reached out, pulled Liz to him and dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead. She was so strong, but even she had her limits. Dealing with Will had obviously been the last straw. He wasn't sure what she had learned that had so upset her, wished that there was time to really press her, but she was right about one thing. Kate needed to be brought back sooner, rather than later. They owed it to her.  
  
If this was what Liz wanted, then it was what they would do. "Okay," he said simply, pulling her against his chest and stroking her dark hair comfortingly. He felt a flash of relief, when she brought her arms up and hugged him tightly.  
  
"I'll go get the others," Michael said quietly, already disappearing up the lighted staircase.  
  
"Liz," Whittaker began, after Michael disappeared. "You really can't blame yourself."  
  
"I told you. I'm not blaming myself," Liz said firmly, pulling slightly away from Max to address her. "But I can't just take anyone's word for it anymore. Will remembers thing so differently from everything we've been told. Because of that, he's pretty screwed up right now. I just can't listen to anyone else's version of events anymore. Can you understand that?" Her voice had gentled by the end of this, as though she finally recognized how rudely she had been speaking to Serena.  
  
Max met Whittaker's eyes. She was obviously upset. "Liz is right," he told her. "We need to know for ourselves. Nothing you tell us will ever convince us better."  
  
Whittaker sighed, then nodded. She had no chance to say anything else anyway, because footsteps were already sounding on the stairs above their heads. Within moments, the entire group from the pod chamber had joined them.  
  
Max watched Will approach. He couldn't help the slight scowl that appeared on his face at the sight of his nemesis. Whatever Liz had said, Max knew that Will was somehow responsible for her upset. Will met his gaze squarely for a moment, glanced briefly at Liz, who was still standing close to him, and then looked away. He expression remained blank, annoying Max even more.  
  
"You managed to get rid of your bodyguard, I see." Whittaker addressed this to Tess, who was standing next to Kyle.  
  
The small blonde nodded. "I sent him outside to guard the entrance. He seemed okay with that. He understands protocol, knows that he has nothing to do with what's going on down here. As long as I don't try and leave here without him, he won't bug us." Tess was addressing Whittaker, but her eyes were on Liz, her forehead slightly creased, as though she could sense her sister's disquiet. "He apparently thinks you're all willing to give me my just due," she added wryly, while her gaze shifted to Max's, her eyebrows raised questioningly.  
  
Max shook his head slightly, warning her not to start in on Liz. The last thing his girlfriend needed at the moment was the third degree again.  
  
"So, what's the process?" Michael asked Whittaker, eager as always to get started.  
  
"Is this even going to work for us?" Jack spoke up. Max glanced at him, surprised. The other new alien boy was so quiet, Max barely knew what his voice sounded like. But, now, with Kate gone, and Will pretty much mute, he appeared to realize he was the only one able to speak for the Sardicans.  
  
It took Max a moment to understand that Jack was actually talking about himself and Isabel though. He didn't, in fact, until Jack added, "I mean, we apparently aren't aliens anymore."  
  
"It will work," Whittaker assured him. "Whatever Nasedo told you, your essences cannot be stolen. The fact that you live means that they're there. He has thrown your balance off, encouraging your human side to dominate. The healing stones will restore your balance when you use them to help Kate."  
  
"Like they did for Nasedo," Michael suggested, obviously putting the pieces together in his mind.  
  
Whittaker looked at him. "You are referring to.?" she asked.  
  
"He got his balance all thrown out of whack a long time ago," Michael explained. "A native elder on a local reservation told us all about it. River Dog was able to restore his balance using the rocks. Max, Isabel, Maria, and Alex did the same for me a few months ago."  
  
"That makes sense," Whittaker replied. "Anyone can use the stones. They are merely a tool to help you focus your energy. They have no power themselves. You will use that focus to access the granolith's healing properties to revive Kate."  
  
"Jeez. Is there anything this granolith [I]can't[/I] do?" Kyle demanded. "It clones, it heals, it's a time machine! Does it make pretty little roses out of tomatoes?"  
  
"I don't suppose we'll ever know all of its possibilities," Whittaker told him, her voice reflecting her amusement. "They are as limitless as our imaginations."  
  
"Have you thought about the time machine aspect?" Liz asked, making Max jump slightly. He hadn't expected her to delay matters by questioning Whittaker. He knew that she, more than anyone, just wanted to get on with things.  
  
"Michael told me a little bit about your visit, Liz," Whittaker told her. "I wish I could tell you how I did that."  
  
"So, you think [I]you[/I] did it?" Tess interrupted, sounding disappointed. "We just assumed it was me."  
  
"From what I understand, Tess, you were gone," Whittaker reminded her. "It was your absence that caused all the problems in the first place. It seems unlikely that it was you." She paused, then added gently, "I'm unsure if you would have ever accessed the secrets of the granolith anyway."  
  
"Why not?" Tess demanded, sounding a little put-out. "Am I not smart enough this time?"  
  
"That's not it at all," Whittaker assured her. "The problem is, you are not entirely [I]me[/I]."  
  
"Okay, what?" This came from Kyle, who was voicing all of their shock. "Are you telling us that Tess [I]isn't[/I] Serena?"  
  
"She is," Whittaker replied, "but there is a reason that Nasedo insisted on vetting Tess to take Ava's place. Haven't you all understood by now that she was never part of Max, Michael and Isabel's four square? It's blatantly obvious. I coded you to be able to match up correctly." To Max, she sounded slightly exasperated, as though she was only just beginning to understand fully how far her plans had been thrown out of whack.  
  
"Coded?" Tess asked, sounding as confused as Max felt.  
  
"Colour coded," Whittaker told her. "You, Will, Kate and Jack are all blue- eyed, while the members of the other four-square all have dark eyes. Have none of you [I]ever[/I] noticed this?"  
  
Max shrugged when he met Isabel's dark-eyed gaze, while they all looked around at each other, surprised. He had certainly noticed Tess's eyes when he'd first met her, as well as Kate's. In fact, he was beginning to realize that it had been something in their eyes that had helped him to recognize them. But since they hadn't known who they were, the idea that they should be matched up that way had never even occurred to them.  
  
"I guess we noticed," Max replied for them all. "We just never understood what it meant."  
  
"I think it [I]did[/I] work - kind of anyway," Isabel added. "When I first met Tess, it was her eyes that drew me to her. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think I recognized her because of them."  
  
"Well, that's something anyway," Whittaker sighed. "Because you weren't supposed to have to recognize each other. If everything had gone according to plan, you would have all been raised together. The eye colour difference was mainly to make sure there was no Rowena/Serena confusion." She lowered her gaze. "That was Khivar's one condition for allowing me to clone everyone. I had to guarantee him there would be no chance of mistaken identity this time around."  
  
Max grimaced, glanced down at Liz. She was looking at Will, whose jaw was tightly clenched.  
  
Tess seemed to feel the tension that had abruptly entered the room, because she quickly interjected, "You said that Nasedo wanted [I]me[/I] for a reason." she prompted, encouraging Whittaker to change the subject.  
  
"I didn't find out the truth until I lured you to that abandoned warehouse, Tess. When I hired Liz, I was trying to understand what had happened between all of you. The orbs being set off in May alerted everyone in Copper Summit that your four square had finally been united. But, when I came to check things out, nothing made sense. Liz was already gone, and [I]you[/I] had blue eyes. I knew that you weren't Rowena, and that you couldn't have set the orb off with the other three."  
  
"That still doesn't explain why you took Tess," Liz told her. "I've never understood that."  
  
"It was through my connection to Nasedo, when he was imitating Pierce, that I first learned about you, Liz. When you came back to Roswell, I arranged it so that you would apply for the job with me. It was when you and I discussed Tess that I finally understood the mistake you were all making. What I still didn't get was [I]why.[/I] I knew from Nasedo that Max was drawn to you, and, yet, you were all completely convinced that Max was supposed to be with Tess. It wasn't until I learned what Grant had done - that he had made you more human by implanting you in a human womb for a period of your gestation - that it began to make sense. None of you knew who Liz really was - that she was as alien as any of you."  
  
"Can we just back up for a minute?" Michael demanded. "What was the deal with you and Nasedo anyway? Didn't he know who you were?"  
  
"He knew," Whittaker replied grimly. "I don't think he knew for sure when I approached him, but he suspected. He gave me just enough information to make me hang myself. Taking Tess like I did was the final confirmation he needed."  
  
"What I don't get is why Nasedo was so desperate to have me and Tess together?" Max asked.  
  
"What difference did it make? He never intended for any of us to rule anyway. Why didn't he just kill us all?"  
  
"And what about the book he made me find in the library?" Tess put in. Whittaker just looked at her. "Oh." She smiled, slightly embarrassed. "That was just meant to convince me to keep pursuing it, wasn't it?"  
  
"You've all mistaken what Nasedo wanted," Whittaker said. She shook her head, sending her light brown hair swaying against her chin. "When I took Tess, I was planning to reveal to her who she really was, but once I had her, I realized it wasn't that simple. She wasn't entirely what I expected to find, just like Liz wasn't."  
  
"What do you mean?" Tess asked, sounding a little frightened. "What's wrong with me?"  
  
"There's nothing wrong with you," Whittaker assured her. "Nasedo wanted Max with Tess, because she holds elements of Ava of Knosis's genetic make-up in her DNA."  
  
A long silence greeted this.  
  
"So, I'm [I]not[/I] Serena?" Tess pressed, beginning to get upset. "Nasedo wasn't lying?" She glanced at Liz, her disappointment obvious.  
  
"No, you [I]are[/I]," Whittaker replied. "Just let me finish explaining. You have to understand why Nicholas and I came to Earth. About a year after Nasedo left Antar with you all, Khivar managed to get his hands on the shapeshifters who helped me create the pods. They had disappeared almost immediately, taking all my research with them, revealing with that action that they had been working against us all along." She paused, grimacing slightly. "It was then that they told us about the deal that the Knosians had made with the Wendarians."  
  
Max eyed her suspiciously, wondering exactly what Khivar and Serena had done to get that information. It seemed unlikely, that after all their plotting, the shapeshifters would have just randomly chosen to tell the truth. He decided not to dwell on it at the moment though. For the first time since he had come into the granolith, an emotion flashed across Will's face. Max recognized it as revulsion - at himself. Or at least at that other version of himself.  
  
If Khivar and Serena had indeed stooped to torture, no one needed to know about it. At least, not now.  
  
"The deal was that the Knosians would support Nasedo's return with the eight royals, would support his rule, on Antar, as regent for the human replicas and their children, as long as Ava continued as Zan's wife," Whittaker elaborated, seemingly unaware of the unease that had flashed around the room. "They wanted one of their off-spring to be heir to the throne of Antar. It was completely opposite to what I had intended by cloning myself and Rowena. There were supposed to be two of us again. One for Zan and one for Khivar. But, this time, everyone would know the truth from the very beginning. The reason for all the conflict between the kings would cease to exist."  
  
"Khivar was okay with this?" Jack asked. "Are you telling me that the other Khivar knows who you really are?"  
  
Whittaker lowered her eyes briefly. "He knows," she said. Max could hear the pain in her voice. It seemed pretty clear that the other Khivar wasn't too happy about it. "He has accepted the truth, but our personal relationship is over. The ties between us now exist only to ensure the restoration of the monarchies under our reborn replicas."  
  
"If he's accepted that I'm supposed to be with Serena, then why was I led to believe differently?" This came from Will, whose disgust seemed to be growing exponentially with every word that came out of Whittaker's mouth.  
  
"I'm sure that was Nicholas's doing," Grant informed him. The other shapeshifter was standing near the stairs and had been listening quietly until now. "He obviously used the fact that your pods released you early, without all the memories you were intended to have, to his advantage."  
  
"I thought Nicholas was on Khivar's side," Maria said. "Why would he try to undermine what his boss was trying to do?"  
  
Grant rolled his eyes. "Nicholas was a slimeball and an opportunist. I'm sure he knew how Khivar really felt, in his heart. Khivar is a good guy and I believe he was willing to let the new Rowena be with Zan. But Nicholas wasn't about to settle for his king having second-best if he could help it. Rowena was the one both Zan and Khivar wanted. And, since Khivar was Nicholas's king, he was the one who was going to win that particular power struggle. No way Nicholas was going to allow himself to ally with the runner-up."  
  
Max watched Whittaker flinch at each word coming from Grant's mouth. He felt horrible for her. He wondered if she had known that Nicholas had been working to undermine her almost the entire time they'd been on Earth. It likely wasn't nice to have the fact that her husband would have chosen someone else over her shoved in her face every five minutes.  
  
"Why didn't you tell us any of this before?" Max demanded, hoping to end this line of conversation as quickly as possible.  
  
"I told you," Grant replied, "I wasn't entirely sure of anything. Some stuff Will told me on the way here helped me to put two and two together. It only makes sense that he was undermining the mission all along."  
  
"Where is he, anyway?" Jack asked.  
  
"He's dead," Whittaker told him, her voice slightly dull now. "Nasedo killed him when he first took Will, Kate and Alex."  
  
"How tragic," Kyle muttered, voicing the opinion of virtually everyone in the room. Max knew it was wrong to be relieved at the death of anyone, but Nicholas had been completely untrustworthy.  
  
Not that he was entirely sure that Grant and Whittaker fell into the "trusted" camp either. But, at the moment, they didn't really have much of a choice other than to believe them.  
  
"Nasedo was beginning to understand that Nicholas had been screwing with Will's head," Grant added, "but he couldn't be sure that it was going to continue. Nicholas never would have sided with Nasedo against Will. In the end, the little brat would have told the truth. Nasedo couldn't take that risk, so he killed him." He grimaced slightly. "He made it his goal to get rid of everyone who could have helped you all to know the truth about yourselves. The Crash turned out to be a big help because it messed with the timing in the pods and you were all even more helpless than you would have been if he'd raised you. The down-side was that he lost most of you for a while. Nicholas and the Skins managed to find Will, Kate and Jack before Nasedo could come back for them. Tess had already emerged early - I'm guessing because the shapeshifters had messed with her pod when they added Ava's genetic material - and he had her, but he made a mistake in leaving the others behind, because he lost them. He, of course, didn't know where the other four were, because I was the one who hid them."  
  
"He wanted everyone dead?" Michael prompted, when Grant seemed finished. "Is that why he killed Courtney?"  
  
There was a long pause. Grant glanced briefly at Isabel, then said quietly, "That was me. I impersonated Jack and did it. To prove my loyalty."  
  
"God! That was you?" Isabel's disgust was obvious.  
  
Max watched Grant look at her again, sadly this time, as though he knew he was irreparably damaging himself in her eyes. And, yet, he continued, "I did what I had to do to maintain my cover, your highness. He needed to believe I was on board or he would have just killed me too. She was dying anyway," he finished lamely.  
  
"Not necessarily," Michael growled. "We could have saved her with the granolith."  
  
"Not in time," Grant replied. "I knew you'd never trust her soon enough to make that possible."  
  
"We would have if you'd come to us," Isabel snapped. "If we'd known she was no threat to us, we would have helped her."  
  
"It seems highly unlikely that you would have trusted me quickly enough either to make that true."  
  
"You didn't give us the chance!" Isabel exclaimed.  
  
Grant met her eyes again. "I'm sorry, your highness."  
  
Isabel's lips were pursed and her eyes flashed with outrage, but she said nothing more. She simply turned away from him. Max narrowed his gaze. He didn't want to feel sorry for the shapeshifter, - he was a killer - but he almost did. He was relieved that his sister had apparently no romantic interest in Grant any longer. He supposed that was why it was possible.  
  
"I still don't understand why Nasedo wasn't just planning to kill us all?" Michael was asking. "I mean, why did he want us to go back at all? Couldn't your people just finish off the last of Khivar's resistance on Antar and take over? Nasedo could rule the whole system himself."  
  
Grant took a deep breath, obviously forcing himself to get past his hurt at Isabel's anger. He then said, "You don't understand Wendarian culture, Michael. No Wendarian would want to rule in their own name. We believe in equality, no Wendarian sitting higher than another. Our one goal is the superiority of our entire race. It is much more in keeping with our ways to rule through the kings and queens the other races would accept. It is what my race has been doing for generations. In a manner of speaking, we have always been the power behind the throne, ruling in everything but name on Antar, Sardica, Valonia [I]and[/I] Knosis. This whole fiasco emerged from the fact that neither Zan, nor Khivar, nor Rowena would have ever allowed themselves to be controlled. It was Zan's strong will, Rowena's intelligence, and Khivar's sense of justice and fair-play that forced our hand."  
  
"So Nasedo decided to bring us back as helpless no-nothings." Max shook his head, finally understanding. "He was going to suppress our alien sides to make us feel even more worthless to the system, and then he was going to take us back, set us up as puppets, and return the system to the status quo."  
  
"Exactly," Grant told him. "But, first, he needed to destroy you all in your last lives."  
  
"He didn't even have to do that," Liz said, sounding angry. "All they had to do was pull a few strings and we destroyed ourselves. So much for Zan's strong will, Rowena's intelligence, and Khivar's sense of fair-play," she added, mimicking Grant's earlier words, her sarcasm obvious.  
  
Max looked down at her, concerned. She had been quiet through much of this, but, now, he could almost feel fury coming off of her in waves.  
  
"Liz." Whittaker addressed her firmly, obviously frustrated again by Liz's cynicism. Max wasn't frustrated. He was scared. Liz was behaving entirely out of character. He looked at Will again, suspiciously. What [I]had[/I] he said to her? "They were all of those things," Whittaker was insisting. "They were played against each other. You will learn this in the granolith. None of it was their fault."  
  
"No one is going to learn anything in the granolith, if you guys don't get your asses in gear and bring back Kate." This came from Alex, who was standing near where Kate's body was resting on a silvery table - one that didn't look entirely Earthly - in an alcove. "Can we please get the show on the road here?" Alex glared briefly at Max, silently demanding that he back him up.  
  
Max felt a flash of guilt. Liz's emotions settled slightly, Max aware of it through their connection. He recognized her matching recognition of their inability to prioritize.  
  
"Alex, we're sorry," she said, her tone much calmer. "We're being idiots. We can talk about all this stuff later."  
  
Instantly, they were all in movement, Whittaker directing the seven conscious hybrids to their positions around the dark-haired girl's still body after Alex had moved her gently to the floor in the centre of the underground cave.  
  
Before Max relocated, he squeezed Liz's hand, murmuring under his breath, "We're going to do this and then we're going talk. Alone." He met her eyes briefly. Liz's were unreadable as she looked away, not answering. Max frowned, sighing.  
  
Moments later, he stood at Kate's head, where Whittaker had placed him, a healing stone lying in his open palms. Liz was directly across from him, at Kate's feet. Tess and Will, and Isabel and Michael, were also paired up, across from each other. To Max's surprise, Whittaker decided that Jack's participation wasn't necessary.  
  
"It will work better to have clean connections between the pairs," she explained, after thinking about it briefly. "Since Kate is Jack's match, having him in there without her essence present might just muddy the waters."  
  
"You'd think that would help," Jack insisted. "I'm the most strongly connected to her. I want to be involved."  
  
Whittaker frowned slightly, obviously a little unsure. Max felt his first flash of trepidation. "Stand ready. We'll send you in if this doesn't work. You may be right, but I want to try it this way first."  
  
"Do you know what you're doing?" Michael demanded, sounding suspicious. Max didn't blame him. He was beginning to wonder the exact same thing.  
  
"In principle," Whittaker replied. "I can't say that I've ever seen this done before though. I know it will work, I'm just not sure exactly how."  
  
Michael stared at her for a long moment, scowling. "Great," was all he said, although his tone was distinctly sarcastic.  
  
"Okay, close your eyes and concentrate on connecting with each other," Whittaker instructed. Max complied, immediately sensing the tentative feelers the others were sending out in his direction.  
  
"Whoa!" It was Kyle's voice. Max's eyes popped open briefly. He looked up at the cone above their head, which was beginning to burn brightly. Glancing down, he saw that the stone in his hands was doing the same.  
  
His heart was pounding nervously, as he forced his eyes closed again. He realized that he could [I]feel[/I] something strange. There was energy he didn't recognize running through his veins. He briefly thought it was the others - that they were making a connection.  
  
It was only when he became aware of Isabel, as a mental link between the two of them abruptly opened, that he realized that wasn't it at all. The energy was coming from the granolith.  
  
He could hear Whittaker's voice on the edge of his consciousness, instructing them to use their combined energy to force Kate's essence to join them. They needed to draw it out of the granolith and back into her human body. Max understood what she wanted them to do, but he couldn't focus. Isabel's familiar presence was not disturbing, but as the others started to make themselves known, he felt overwhelmed.  
  
Too much was happening at once. Max felt like his legs were about to give out on him. It was too intense. Something was wrong. This didn't feel [I]anything[/I] like what it had felt like to bring Michael's balance back. It hadn't felt like this when they'd brought Nasedo back to life either.  
  
Something flashed in his mind - almost like he'd blinked - and, then, everything changed again.  
  
[I]Max! Something's not right![/I]  
  
Max felt like he was stumbling. He knew his sister wasn't yelling at him, but her voice was suddenly screaming through every nerve of his body. He forced his eyes open again, only to find he was no longer in the cave. He was standing in the same circle in the desert where they had pulled Michael back from the brink.  
  
Looking around, he counted heads. Isabel was to his right, Michael to his left. Will and Tess were further away, standing at the end of their own spoke of the wheel. Kate was lying in the centre of the circle, motionless.  
  
Calm overtook him. [I]Settle down, everyone.[/I] It was Will's voice. He was taking a step forward. Max could feel the tranquillity the other guy was sending out through the connection, succeeding in helping them all to regroup and focus. Max felt slight admiration. Whatever had been stuck in Will's craw earlier was apparently gone, now that they needed someone to step in and assume leadership of the situation.  
  
[I]What's wrong?[/I] Tess asked, after a moment. [I]Isabel's right. I feel it too. Something isn't right.[/I]  
  
But Max already knew. He was looking straight ahead, to the spoke of the wheel directly across from him.  
  
It was Liz. She was missing. She wasn't there with the rest of them.  
  
That was what had felt wrong. He wasn't sure how he knew it, but he understood that it was true. He had been bearing the brunt of the energy that he was supposed to be sharing with Liz. He hadn't been because she wasn't in the connection. She had been left behind.  
  
[I]Where's Liz?[/I] he demanded.  
  
He watched them all turn their heads to stare at the spot where Liz was supposed to be standing. They all seemed to be moving in slow motion. Clearly, none of them had noticed the fact that she wasn't there. They had felt that something was wrong, but none of them had been able to figure out what. Max figured it was her absence that was causing the lack of focus. The energy wasn't being evenly distributed.  
  
[I]Max, it's just like last time![/I] Isabel sounded annoyed. [I]Where[/I] is[I] she?[/I]  
  
[I]We need to get out of here,[/I] Tess thought, beginning to sound a little hysterical. [I]Where is she? What happened to her?[/I] Her tone indicated that she wasn't angry, like Isabel, but, rather, worried. Max understood completely. This was about more than just Liz not showing up in the connection.  
  
He knew it deep within himself. Something was wrong.  
  
He couldn't feel her at all.  
  
[I]Tess is right,[/I] Max told them all, trying to stay calm. [I]We need to let go of the connection, regroup and try again. We can't do this without Liz.[/I]  
  
[I]Oh for.[/I] This came from Michael, but when Max looked at him sharply, he simply rolled his eyes, closed them, and seemed to be trying to release himself from the circle. Max watched his best friend, felt his eyes narrowing. Michael's expression was entirely too strained for what he was trying to do.  
  
Several moments later, Michael's eyes were open again. Max saw Michael's fear, knew that it matched the almost strangling terror that was starting to crawl up his spine.  
  
[I]Maxwell, I can't do it. I can't get out of here.[/I]  
  
Max looked around at the others. They were all staring at each other, their combined mounting desperation clear.  
  
They were trapped.  
  
To be continued. 


	44. Chapter 44

[u]Part 44[/u]  
  
"That can't be good."  
  
It was the sound of Kyle's voice, which broke the silence that had fallen over the granolith, that cued Liz in to the fact that nothing had happened.  
  
Opening her eyes, she frowned, becoming aware that this wasn't entirely true. She had realized that something was wrong when Max's presence, which was always just on the edge of her awareness, had blinked out. Kyle had only confirmed to her that she had not managed to join the connection.  
  
Liz's eyes were drawn to the upside down cone of the granolith hanging over their heads. It was blinking erratically, no longer demonstrating that steady brightness that had defined it since the eight hybrids had finally been brought together into its presence. She wondered if it was the blinking that had made Kyle comment.  
  
A moment later, glancing around at the others gathered around Kate's body, she realized it wasn't. Her eyes widened and she felt panic beginning to overwhelm her. She had been doing her best to dampen the confusion and fear that had been her constant companion since her discussion with Will, but now it all broke loose. Her heart started to pound, her palms became sweaty and her stomach tied itself in knots.  
  
Max, Isabel, Michael, Will and Tess were all hovering an inch above the ground, their heads thrown back, their eyes wide open and staring at the base of the granolith. It was as if some sort of tractor beam had taken control of their bodies and was attempting to pull them towards the ceiling. The healing stones were still sitting in their hands, and they were burning brightly, but it was extremely clear that their handlers were no longer in control of them.  
  
They were gone. Liz could not feel any of them. It was why Max's essence had disappeared on her. It was no longer [I]there[/I].  
  
"Oh my God." she whispered, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.  
  
"Liz!"  
  
She became aware of Maria grabbing her elbow. She turned to stare at her friend. Maria's fearful expression matched her own, she was sure.  
  
"Are you okay?" Maria demanded. "What happened in there?"  
  
"I.I." Liz opened her mouth, tried to explain that [I]nothing[/I] had happened. She hadn't gone anywhere.  
  
And, yet, it was fully clear that [I]something[/I] had indeed happened. She had just been left behind.  
  
She caught movement out of the corner of her eye, turned her head to see Whittaker stepping forward, a perplexed expression on her face. "Something's wrong," the former congresswoman said, glancing around at the five hovering hybrids.  
  
"You think?" Kyle demanded. He was now standing under Tess, obviously annoyed, but more than that, Liz could tell that he was extremely worried as well.  
  
"What happened?" Maria asked again. "Liz, why are you [I]here?[/I]"  
  
"I don't [I]know[/I]!" Liz wailed, the words coming before she even thought them. "I [I]knew[/I] this was going to happen. I [I]knew[/I] I was going to screw everything up!"  
  
She blinked when she understood what she had said. It was the first time she had put voice to her deepest fear. She hadn't even realized that she felt it. Preoccupied as she had been by the fact that every revelation over the course of the last two days had seemed to confirm that she and Max had been complete idiots in their past lives, it hadn't even occurred to her that she was unsure still that she even believed that she really belonged with them.  
  
She wanted it more than anything, wanted to be destined for Max, but it was only now, when everything had gone completely wrong that she realized that she wasn't really certain that she [I]believed[/I] she was Rowena.  
  
She had no gift at all. That had been more than proven by how badly she had misjudged Will. And, now, at the time when she had most needed to prove that she was one of them, she had failed.  
  
She might hold Rowena's essence within her, but she was [I]too[/I] human. She could not imagine living anywhere but on Earth. She didn't [I]want[/I] to live anywhere but on Earth. She belonged [I]here[/I].  
  
The confusing part was that, she also knew, in her heart, that she belonged with Max. And he [I]didn't[/I] belong here. He had finally accepted who he really was, was ready to take on everything that it meant. Did what had happened here mean that she wasn't?  
  
Liz felt tears fill her eyes. She didn't know [I]anything[/I] anymore. How could she so want to be a part of Max's life, but still be so unsure? What was [I]wrong[/I] with her?  
  
She felt Maria's hand tighten on her arm. "Lizzie?" her best friend prompted gently. "What do you mean you knew you were going to screw everything up?"  
  
Liz could not answer her. Her mind replayed all the times that the others had depended on her and she had failed them. The first time they'd used the stones - to heal Michael - she had let her fear get the best of her. Then there had been when they'd heard the destiny message and she had run out on Max. She had failed them then too. If she'd stayed, maybe they would have figured out the truth sooner. Everything had become screwed up because she had left. Nasedo had almost won because Whittaker had been unable to figure out what had happened to Rowena. All because Liz had left.  
  
And, then, there as Future Max. She had almost destroyed Max by what she had done at Future Max's instigation. She understood that it had, perhaps, changed things for the better - that Will and the others would have been forever lost to her friends, not to mention Tess, if she hadn't - but she could not completely forget how she had almost torn her friends apart by what she had done.  
  
Every time she thought she was making a decision for the good of the group, she was [I]wrong[/I]. Just like Rowena had been wrong.  
  
Will had been mistaken. She was entirely too much like her past life alter- ego. She was destined to destroy them again. As had been proven just now, by the fact that she couldn't even make a simple connection with them to save Kate's life.  
  
"Liz!" Maria was waving her hand in front of her face, trying to get her attention. "What's [I]wrong[/I]?"  
  
"I.I don't think I really belong here," Liz replied, turning away. "I can't do it. I don't [I]want[/I] to be her. I didn't even realize it was true, but it [I]is[/I]."  
  
She didn't, she realized. She did not want to be Rowena. She remembered when she and Max had completely lost control of themselves in her bedroom the day before. She had felt what it would be like to be Rowena then. To be so self-absorbed in physical longing that everything else fell to the way- side. They had made out on Liz's bed while Isabel had been in Nasedo's clutches, in the process of being tortured.  
  
Liz was still completely self-absorbed it seemed. She didn't want to be Rowena, but she [I]was.[/I] And she hated herself.  
  
Because she hated it, she couldn't embrace that side of herself, could not get in touch with the part of her that was alien. She knew it inherently. She had tried and she just could not do it. She had failed them again. She should have known. It was all she had ever done.  
  
"You're wrong." Liz started, stared at Jack, who had spoken. He didn't sound angry. In fact, he sounded amazed. "Don't you understand? How can you not get it?"  
  
"Get what?" Liz asked, unsure. She had barely heard him speak two words before this afternoon, but he was staring at her now, his gaze so intense, it made her blood heat, reddening her cheeks.  
  
"You are the lynch-pin that holds us all together, Liz," Jack told her. "You are mostly human, but you're so much a part of us all, I was able to feel you in Copper Summit simply because you had [I]been[/I] there. I've never been able to do that with anyone before. I've always had to be in their presence. Being Rowena has nothing to do with the fact that you're an alien, and it has nothing to do with anything you [I]do[/I]. It's who you [I]are[/I]."  
  
"I don't understand," Liz told him.  
  
"You don't have to [I]do[/I] anything," Jack insisted. "Just being who you are makes you one of us. Whether you want to be Rowena or not, it's what [I]is[/I]. Of course, you're unsure. It's what we all loved about Rowena and it's what we all love about you. You do the right thing in spite of being unsure. You always know what is right. You always have. And you always will. You know because that's your gift. Rowena's gift was always one of understanding, but, above that, it was her capability to love. She always made her decisions with her heart, and, because of it, she was always right, no matter what the consequences."  
  
Liz stared at him. Her grandmother Claudia's words from the year before suddenly filtered through her mind. [I]Promise me you'll follow your heart, wherever it takes you.[/I]  
  
She had tried to do that. She tried to follow her heart. Even the time she'd been unable to help Michael restore his balance, she had been following her heart. Her heart had been absorbed with fear for Max, then, and it had resulted in their initial break-up. She knew now though that it had been a good thing. Although painful at the time, it had been right, because neither of them had been ready for the intensity of what their relationship was destined to become.  
  
Doing as Future Max had bid her had been painful too, but she had followed her heart, even though she had almost broken it in the process. She realized now that she had known deep inside that what she had done to Max the night of the Gomez concert wasn't going to end their connection. He would see through it - and he [I]had[/I]. He had never believed it. But, because she had done it, Tess had remained in Roswell and the three other hybrids had joined them. It had been the [I]right[/I] thing to do.  
  
The only time she hadn't followed her heart had been when she'd walked away from Max at the pod chamber the spring before. It was the only mistake she had ever made. It had made things more complicated for Whittaker, and had helped Nasedo. [I]Not[/I] following her heart - which had been imploring her to stay with Max, to help him heal from what had been done to him in the White Room, and to help him fully explore what Tess's presence in their lives meant - had been a mistake. She had never given Tess a chance, her jealousy outweighing what her heart was telling her to do. If she had, she would have seen sooner that Tess wasn't bad, that they were connected, that the sense of trust she had briefly felt in Tess that day at the Harding house, when her sister had told her that she wasn't trying to take Max away from her, had been valid. She got now that she had [I]believed[/I] Tess that day. That for one short moment, before Nasedo's lies had intervened again, Tess had been telling the truth. She had not wanted Max at all. But, because she, Liz, had not listened to her heart, she had almost destroyed them all.  
  
Liz felt her heart lighten in a way she had been unsure she would ever feel again. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Ironically, it was at that moment that Kyle demanded, "Jeesh. Pressure much? No wonder she's freaking out! Who the hell would want the weight of always doing the right thing resting on their shoulders?"  
  
Jack shrugged. "I can't explain it. It's just who she is. The love she has for life and for all of us will always make it so. It's her destiny. There's a [I]reason[/I] she couldn't make the connection." He turned and addressed Liz again. "Liz, you probably don't even know what it is, but it exists."  
  
Liz sighed, accepting what he told her, to a certain degree, her new analysis of past events making her see the situation in a new light. "You may be right." And, yet a small doubt still existed. Why was she so frightened of what being Rowena really meant? Why did she still doubt that she would make the right decisions? If she accepted Rowena as part of herself, shouldn't that change? "But, if it's true, then why am I so sure that I don't want to be [I]her[/I]. That I want to be me?"  
  
"Do you think Rowena wanted to be who she was all the time?" Jack asked. "She didn't want to be what divided Sardica and Antar, but there was no way to avoid it. Because it wasn't her fault. She couldn't change what she meant to Zan and Khivar. They were the ones with the problem, not Rowena." He nodded towards the others, who were still hovering. Liz stared at Max, abruptly recognizing the expression on his face. It was fear. Something had gone extremely [I]wrong[/I] in the connection. Her heart started to pound again, desperately wished that she was with him. Why wasn't she? Why had she been left behind?  
  
It was as if Jack had read her mind, because he continued, thinking aloud, "I think it's the Rowena part of you that refuses to let you make the connection. There are some things that need to be fixed on their own. You can't be the mediator all the time. Kyle's right. No one can handle what Rowena had to handle on their own. It's too much pressure. Things have to be different this time."  
  
Liz frowned. "I swear that's not true. I [I]want[/I] to fix things. I just don't want to be her."  
  
Jack sighed. "Believe what you want. You [I]are[/I] her. But you're yourself too. It's not a question of whether you want it or not. It's just what [I]is[/I]. You're strong, Liz, but you can't do everything. Whatever's going on with [I]them[/I]," he glared at the dangling hybrids in annoyance, "it has nothing to do with you. And, I think, your Rowena essence knows it. I think the [I]granolith[/I] knows it too and it's why you haven't been able to join them." He looked at Whittaker, who was staring at him with her mouth hanging open, as though she couldn't quite believe he'd come to this conclusion. "Why do you think you didn't want me involved in the connection? I mean, how would that randomly just come to you? We're not in control here at all. It's all the granolith. It [I]tells[/I] you what to do. I don't think you even realize it. You said yourself that you've never completely understood it. I'm not in there because I'm not involved either. Katie isn't, because she's gone. She isn't one of the ones with the problem anyway."  
  
"But, what about Tess?" Kyle demanded. "She didn't do anything! Neither did Isabel!"  
  
"I never said they did anything to each other," Jack replied, sounding impatient. "But they certainly have things to work out in there. Vilandra was in love with Khivar." He glared at Grant as he said this. "Her Vilandra side needs to deal with that. And, as for Tess. Serena [I]lied[/I] to Khivar for years." He looked at Whittaker again. "You, better than anyone, should know that they have things to discuss, things to decide. Not figuring them out early was what destroyed your relationship with the original Khivar."  
  
Liz was unsure how Jack had figured all of this out. Maybe he could see most clearly because he was the one with the least baggage brought over from their past lives. Or maybe the granolith was somehow helping him to understand. However it had happened, Liz believed him. This hadn't been about her doubts at all. She had them still, she knew, but the granolith had not taken them seriously. It had recognized them for the insecurities that any of them might hold, considering the extraordinary circumstances under which they were becoming aware of who they really were.  
  
Liz felt a flash of awe, followed immediately by one of curiosity. What the heck [I]was[/I] the granolith? How did it [I]know[/I] exactly what to do? How had it known, that before they could really know what had happened in their past lives, they needed to come to terms with each other in the present? That, to really be a team, they needed to be able to accept each other in spite of what they might learn when their memories returned.  
  
She and Jack and Kate had already accepted the rest of them, flaws and all, which was why they weren't involved. They would only complicate things by being present.  
  
This did not negate Liz's concerns about her own role in the group. She still did not understand how she had so completely misjudged Will, but she knew that she forgave him. It was one reason that she was not involved in whatever the granolith was up to. Her gift was obviously screwed up somehow though. She wondered if part of her doubt about wanting to go back to Antar might stem from the suspicion that she would end up being more of a hindrance than a help. If she couldn't play a full part, she didn't want any role at all. The last thing the rest of them needed was to depend on her, only to have her fail them in the end.  
  
It was something she was going to have to work out, this sense of inadequacy. Jack was right. She was who she was. She could not change that. But, she [I]did[/I] love the rest of them; Max most intensely, but the rest of them as well. She wanted to be one of them, whatever that meant, and it wasn't just because of Max. Max would have loved her whether she was Rowena or not. She knew that. It was only now that she was beginning to understand that she wanted acceptance from the rest of them too. Until she knew for certain that she had it, her doubts might not go away.  
  
For now, though, that was going to have to wait. She didn't have a purpose in whatever was going on with the rest of them. She shook her head slightly, smiling wryly to herself. She had been lying to herself when she had said before that she wanted out. She didn't want out. She wanted [I]in,[/I] completely. Now that she didn't know what was going on with the rest of them, she was completely impatient.  
  
She just hoped they would hurry and sort out what needed to be sorted. But, based on the amount of tension that existed between some of them, she was pretty sure they were going to be in there for a while. 


	45. Chapter 45

[u]Part 45[/u]  
  
"Okay!" Max yelled. Everyone was talking at once, the high pitch of hysteria becoming more pronounced with every passing second. "Everyone just [I]shut[/I] up! We need to think here!"  
  
"What is there to think about?" Michael snapped. "We're trapped Maxwell! The only thing we need to do is get the hell out of here."  
  
"And how are we supposed to do that without thinking about it?" Tess glared at him.  
  
Michael appeared about to respond to her, but when it dawned on him that she was right, his mouth shut with a snap.  
  
"Let's all just calm down," Max continued, nodding at Tess in thanks. "Liz isn't here. It's obviously screwing things up. We need to figure out [I]why[/I] she isn't here and deal with it."  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Isabel demanded. "She can't be depended on. I so [I]knew[/I] this was going to happen!"  
  
"Isabel, what are you talking about?" Tess rounded on her. "For God's sake, we all know that Liz is the only one who can be depended on all the time. The things she's done for us." She raised her hand, her fingers spread. "Do I need to list them? Because I will." She dropped one finger. "For starters, she walked away from Max when she thought that was the best thing for [I]all[/I] of us."  
  
"Okay," Isabel interrupted, sounding embarrassed. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just upset. I know this isn't Liz's fault. What I don't get is why she isn't here. What did we do wrong?"  
  
"We didn't do anything wrong," Michael argued. "We're here, aren't we? I say we get on with it and try to heal her."  
  
"Michael, that's what we were trying to do," Tess reminded him. "It didn't work. We need Liz here. Obviously."  
  
"I don't think it's obvious at all." Will spoke up here, making Max grimace slightly. He glanced at his nemesis, who had been listening quietly as they all argued. It dawned on Max for the first time that Will was technically the only "new" alien who had made it into the connection. Kate was there in body, but was quite obviously nowhere to be found in spirit.  
  
"What do you mean?" Tess demanded.  
  
"I think there's a reason Liz [I]isn't[/I] here," Will replied. "It's the only thing that makes sense. She's already made a connection to both Max and me. She should be here. Which means that there's a reason she's not."  
  
Max exchanged a glance with Isabel, who was frowning. He could almost see the wheels turning in his sister's head. He didn't know what to make of what Will had said, but could see that Isabel was taking it seriously. "Did anyone else think it was weird that Whittaker decided that Jack shouldn't be a part of the connection?" she finally asked abruptly. "I mean, he was right when he argued that he should be here. He has the strongest connection to Kate. He [I]should[/I] be here. I know that if anyone could call [I]me[/I] back from somewhere, it would be Michael." She looked at Max, then continued carefully, as though she was afraid that she was going to somehow hurt [I]him[/I] by what she was saying, "We've always known that there was a special bond between Michael and me. It wasn't until Tess came that we understood it, but we've always [I]felt[/I] it."  
  
Max nodded slowly, recognizing what his sister was getting at. Michael and he had always been close, but more out of proximity and necessity, rather than understanding. He loved his friend like a brother, but he didn't always understand him. Not like Isabel always had. It wasn't a bond like the one he shared with Liz - he knew that Michael and Isabel weren't in love - but there was certainly something there beyond his own connection to Michael.  
  
Which made him agree with his sister. It was extremely odd that Jack had been left out of this connection. Max didn't know Kate or Jack very well, but it was obvious that they were very close.  
  
"Are you saying that he was left out to screw things up?" Michael demanded. "That Whittaker can't be trusted?"  
  
"Did anyone [I]really[/I] trust her anyway?" Isabel countered.  
  
"I did," Tess stated. "I mean, in a way, she's [I]me[/I]."  
  
Max looked at Will. He shrugged. "She has pretty much spent her entire life lying. I don't know [I]what[/I] to think."  
  
"So, you're planning to reject her, too," Tess said, sounding disdainful. "Just like you did last time?"  
  
"She's not [I]my[/I] Serena," Will snapped. "Not to mention, it wasn't Khivar's fault. Serena [I]lied[/I] to him. He loved Rowena."  
  
"That's ridiculous," Tess exclaimed. "He was married to Serena. No matter how good an actress Serena might have been, he had to love her at least a bit. Not if their marriage was as happy as you both seem to remember. She couldn't be Rowena completely - ever."  
  
"She was her clone," Will argued. "Close enough."  
  
"Please," Tess retorted. "That's like saying we're all exactly the same as we were back then. We know already that's not true."  
  
"You're not even really Serena!" Will yelled. "You're some weird half and half freak show!"  
  
"Whoa!" Max exclaimed. "Enough!" He scowled at Will. "You can't talk to Tess like that."  
  
Tess didn't seem upset, or at least not in the way Max would have expected having been attacked in such a fashion. She wasn't on the verge of tears. Instead, she was crimson with fury. Max had never seen her so angry. Tess had always been as cool as a cucumber, at least in his dealings with her. She had been emotional with Liz, but never had she been as furious as she was presently. He could practically see steam coming out of her ears.  
  
"Need I remind you that we're all half and half freak shows?" Isabel added, sounding a little amused, if Max was not mistaken.  
  
"What's so funny?" Tess demanded, glaring at Max's sister.  
  
"You are, Tess," Isabel told her. "You let him get to you. I've never seen [I]anyone[/I] get to you." She paused, then added impishly, "Well, except maybe Kyle."  
  
Tess turned her head away, obviously deciding that there was no possible come-back to that.  
  
"We're getting off track here," Max said firmly. "The question on the table is, do we trust Whittaker or not?"  
  
"What does it matter?" Will asked, obviously struggling to control his tone, so that he was no longer confrontational. "It doesn't matter if we trust her. We don't even trust each other."  
  
"That's not true," Max replied mildly. "I trust everyone here."  
  
"Of course you do," Will said, sounding sarcastic. "Just like I do."  
  
Max clenched his jaw, determined that this irritating son of a bitch was not going to get to [I]him.[/I] "Why would I lie?"  
  
"Oh, you wouldn't," Will replied, obviously even more irritated. "Not the perfect Zan. So perfect he stole my wife."  
  
"She was never your wife!" Tess yelled, so surprising everyone, even herself, that the silence that followed was almost eerie. "You [I]need[/I] to get over it," she eventually continued, almost kindly. "I know it's hard." She glanced at Max. He felt his face heating up. He realized she was referring to the fact that she still had some feelings for him, in spite of everything they had learned. "But it just wasn't true."  
  
"I know it," Will said, his voice cracking a little. Max watched in amazement as Tess moved forward slightly, then stopped. It was as if she wanted to go to him, to comfort him, but didn't feel entirely right doing so. "It doesn't make it any easier to accept."  
  
There was another long moment of silence, and then Isabel spoke up tentatively. "I. I wonder if that's what [I]this[/I] is all about." She waved her hand in the air, indicating the fact that they were trapped in the granolith. "That we're all stuck here until we accept that we might not like what we're going to learn about ourselves in here."  
  
"That still doesn't explain why Jack and Liz aren't here," Michael reminded her.  
  
"Maybe they're ready," Isabel shrugged. "Maybe [I]we're[/I] not."  
  
"But we're the ones who've always known we're aliens!" Michael exclaimed. "It doesn't make sense that [I]we're[/I] having trouble with this!"  
  
"Jack's always known too," Will reminded him. "But he's always been the one who rolls the easiest with the punches. Jondar was killed in our last lives, but he wasn't a major player in the war." He paused, then added, "I've always sort of suspected that it was why he wasn't as desperate for revenge as Kate and me. He just doesn't feel the same anger about it all."  
  
"Liz doesn't have the same baggage the rest of us do either," Max said pensively. "She's actually accepted this all pretty well. I think Isabel's right. We're here to learn something. Something we haven't allowed ourselves to learn."  
  
"What can we possibly learn that could be anywhere worse than what we already know?" Tess asked, sounding tired. "I don't think I can take much more of this."  
  
"I think we all sort of feel that way," Max told her, knowing that he sounded wry. He couldn't help it. It had been the most hellish week of his life, and he was even including the time he had spent in the White Room. At least then there had been no grey area. There had been good and there had been evil, and he had known he was on the right side.  
  
"I'm ready," Michael insisted. "I know I am."  
  
"But are you really, Michael?" Isabel asked. "I mean, it's going to change everything. What if you go in there, come out with your memories, and then suddenly you're in love with [I]me[/I] again? Doesn't that scare you even a little bit? What about Maria?"  
  
Michael stared at her. "I won't be." Max heard the slight tremor in his best friend's voice though, as if Isabel's words were somehow hitting the mark.  
  
"But what if it happens?" Isabel pressed. "It's happened before, Michael. Back when we thought I was pregnant with your baby. You totally flipped out and became someone completely different. I don't think you [I]are[/I] ready for this." She moved forward, took his hand. "I think you're scared, even if you won't admit it. You're scared that you're going to hurt Maria again, without even meaning to."  
  
Max shook his head in amazement. As usual, Isabel had understood Michael better than he had. If they were all in here for a reason, he had been pretty sure that Michael was the only one of them who had gotten there quite by accident. Rath had no difficult history with anyone, after all. He had been the most loyal and trusted of friends - then and now.  
  
And, yet, now he worried about how loyal being here was to the one person he loved more than anyone.  
  
"Maybe," Michael finally muttered gruffly. "I don't see what standing around here is going to do about it though. I can't change how I feel."  
  
"I think just acknowledging it is going to change things," Isabel replied. She looked at Tess. "What about you?"  
  
"What about me?" Tess asked, taking a step back.  
  
"What are you worried about?" Isabel asked.  
  
"I'm not worried about anything," Tess insisted. "I [I]like[/I] what I know about who I was. I want to be Serena."  
  
Isabel just stared at her. Max looked at Will, whose arms were crossed. He had a strange expression on his face, one Max couldn't quite identify, but he was, without a doubt, waiting for Tess's response.  
  
Tess's shoulders sagged suddenly under the weight of Isabel's regard. "You're really annoying, you know that?" she muttered.  
  
"Don't be annoyed," Isabel told her firmly. "Just be honest."  
  
"Honest like I was before?" Tess demanded. She looked at Will, then away. She continued though, almost blurting it out. "Why do you think what he said pissed me off so much? He was right! I was, am, and always will be a complete liar. My entire gift is a lie for God's sake! Serena deserved everything she got!"  
  
"What did she get, Tess?" Max asked gently, his heart going out to her. He couldn't help it. Even though he had once been the victim of her lies, there was no question now that everything she had been before had been completely engineered by Nasedo. She had been raised in lies, had continued the lying, but, now, she feared that she could never escape it.  
  
"She got rejected," Tess replied tearfully. "The one person she wanted didn't want her. Just like none of you wanted [I]me[/I]."  
  
Max was about to move to comfort her, but surprisingly Michael beat him to it. "Of course we want you, Tess," he insisted, his arm going around her slender shoulders. She seemed impossibly small and vulnerable next to Michael's large frame. "We just want the real you. We've always been ready to accept her."  
  
"But I don't even know who the real me is!" Tess wailed, burying her face against Michael's chest.  
  
"What? And you think any of us do?" Michael demanded. "Why do you think we're here?"  
  
"I know why [I]I'm[/I] here," Isabel admitted. "It's because I don't quite believe that Vilandra was as innocent as everyone seems to think. Whether she was fooled by that shapeshifter or not, she knew that loving Khivar was wrong. She was betraying her brother and her entire planet."  
  
"Isabel, you don't know how it was," Max reminded her. "You can't make judgments like that before knowing for sure."  
  
"Maybe not," Isabel replied. "But I already have. And I think that's why I'm here. Because I'm going to misinterpret anything I see. I know I am." She shrugged. "And figuring this out isn't going to help much, because it's not going to change how I feel, just because I know that's what I'm going to do."  
  
"But somehow [I]me[/I] knowing what I'm worried about does change things?" Michael demanded. "That makes no sense, Isabel."  
  
Isabel started, then stared at him. She eventually smiled slightly. "Point taken."  
  
Michael nodded his head in satisfaction. He looked at Will, "So, what's your guilty secret? What are you afraid of?"  
  
"You know mine," Will muttered.  
  
"What? That you're going to find out your precious Rowena never loved you?" Michael demanded. "I don't buy that. You know it already. No, it's something else."  
  
"Why do I have to tell you?" Will snapped. "Isn't it enough that [I]I[/I] know?"  
  
"I don't think so," Isabel told him gently. "I think the whole point of this is to make us trust each other. In every way. You need to tell us."  
  
There was a long pause, as Will seemed to mull this over. "This doesn't really seem fair," he finally told them. "I mean, you've all known each other for years. Why do I have to bare my soul to complete strangers?"  
  
"We won't be complete strangers after the connection," Isabel reminded him. "I think that Whittaker or the granolith, or whatever, is giving us the chance to come clean before we all know anyway."  
  
"So, what about Liz and Jack?" Michael asked. "Don't they need to know this stuff?"  
  
"I have the feeling that those two will accept anything we show them," Isabel answered. "We're the judgmental ones. They'll still like us anyway. But, this group here, if we see something we don't like, we may pull out."  
  
"How do you know all this, Isabel?" Tess asked, sounding dumbfounded.  
  
"I just know [I]me[/I]," Isabel replied. "I'm not too jazzed to be about to find out exactly what you all think of me. I'm also not very happy that you're about to know what I think of all of you. It just seems logical that the granolith is trying to prepare the chickens among us in advance."  
  
"I wished my sister dead," Will blurted, startling Max. He had been focused on Isabel, as had the others, and they all whipped around to stare at the dark-haired guy.  
  
"What?" Michael demanded.  
  
"Well, not really," Will amended. "But." He paused, then continued in a rush, "I told Liz this earlier. I was working with Nasedo. Kate figured it out. Because of that, for one, brief, moment, I never wanted her to wake up."  
  
"[I]What![/I]" Michael bellowed. He looked about ready to leap at Will, but Tess was clutching his arm tightly. Max moved rapidly towards them to help her. "You were working for [I]Nasedo?[/I]"  
  
"I didn't know what else to do," Will admitted, his guilt clear in his voice. "I felt completely out of control. I've been raised to be in charge and, with you people, I'm just [I]not[/I]. I thought working with him for a while would give me time to line things up properly again. But everything went crazy. I never expected him to take Alex. And I didn't expect Kate to get hurt. I didn't expect anyone to get hurt."  
  
"That is the biggest piece of bullshit I've ever heard!" Michael informed him, interrupting. "You hoped at least one of us would get hurt." He looked at Max. "If you're being honest, [I]be[/I] honest. You wanted Maxwell dead. That's what your real goal was. That's how you planned to be in charge again. Not only that, but you'd get Liz, too."  
  
"I think the one thing I've learned from all of this," Will replied, his voice firmer, "is that Liz doesn't belong to anyone. But I still didn't want her to know what I'd done. And I'm going to have to live with the fact that, for one moment, I wished my sister would stay dead, so that Liz wouldn't find out the truth." He paused, as though searching for words. "I guess that's what I'm most scared of here. Of finding out that I was responsible for everything bad that happened back then. That I let my love for Rowena come before my planet. Just like I let my obsession with Liz come before my sister."  
  
"God." This came from Isabel. Max looked at her. His sister seemed stunned. As he watched, though, strangely, it was as if a light went on inside Isabel. Max met his sister's eyes. And, abruptly, she was speaking to him - privately, in his head.  
  
[I]I can't believe he actually felt that way, Max. Even if for only a second.[/I]  
  
[I]Obsession is a scary thing, Iz.[/I]  
  
[I]I would [/I]never[I] think that you'd be better off dead. Never.[/I]  
  
[I]I know, Isabel.[/I]  
  
[I]Don't you get it, Max?[/I] Isabel demanded. [I]I'm free! I won't betray you again.[/I]  
  
[I]Isabel, I never doubted that.[/I]  
  
She smiled at him. [I] I know, Max. But I did. I just can't [/I]believe[I] he even thought that.[/I]  
  
Max wondered why he didn't feel as shocked by Will's revelation. Maybe it was because he'd been having some of the same types of fears - that he really had been a horrible person, that Zan had deserved to die. He was just glad that he hadn't made any choices in this life, so far, that would haunt him for the rest of his life. No matter how much he disliked Will, the fact that he understood how wrong his feelings about Kate had been meant that he could not be all bad. Max felt sorry for him.  
  
He thought he finally understood why Liz had been so upset after talking to Will, too. Will had admitted to her that he hadn't always been completely above-board, that he [I]had[/I] been working against them. He had proven her certainty in him wrong. Her faith in him had been misplaced. She would feel that. Liz trusted with her heart, not with her head. The irony of this was that she considered herself to be thoughtful and intelligent, which she was. But it was her heart that was her true gift. Her hurt was almost certain. So, as far as Max felt bad for Will, he also felt angry.  
  
Silence had fallen over the group again, as they all reflected on what Will's revelation meant. Finally, Tess, spoke, "Are you going to tell, Kate?"  
  
"She'll know," Will replied, sounding pained. "When we bring her back, she'll become part of the connection, and she'll know."  
  
"She'll understand," Tess reassured him. "She will. She has to."  
  
"I don't think so," Will said. "And she shouldn't."  
  
And, after that, there was nothing else to say. Max looked around at the others. He realized that they were all staring at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What do you mean, [I]what?[/I]" Isabel asked. "You're here too, Max. Give it up!"  
  
"I swear, I can't think of a single thing," Max told them. "You know all my dirty secrets. I'm not particularly excited to see some of the things I did in my past life either," he continued, looking directly at Isabel. "You all know already that I've never really wanted to be the leader. You all know too that I love Liz more than anyone." He trailed off, the truth suddenly dawning on him.  
  
There was only one deep, dark secret the people here did not know about him.  
  
He knew exactly why he was here. He felt his heart start to thunder in his chest, was aware of all the blood draining out of his face. He knew that there was no way he could [I]ever[/I] tell them this. Tess and Will would understand, maybe, (and he didn't particularly care about Will's opinion anyway) but Michael and Isabel.They would be so hurt. He could not do it.  
  
The only person who knew this truth about him was Liz, and they had never even discussed it. But he knew she knew. He had [I]seen[/I] it in their connection. In fact, he had once even told her, although not directly, but he had implied it. He didn't remember it, seeing as he had been drunk at the time.  
  
"Max, what?" Isabel's voice was gentle. He felt his sister take his hand.  
  
"Iz." He cleared his throat. "I."  
  
"Maxwell, just tell us," Michael snapped. Max almost smiled. He couldn't help it. Michael was trying to make him angry, in his typical manner, was trying to get him to spill it that way.  
  
And, so, he would. They wouldn't forgive him, but they would find out soon enough anyway. They deserved to know.  
  
"I don't regret healing Liz," he told them.  
  
He watched Isabel's face anxiously, but she just stared at him, as though she was waiting for more.  
  
"And?" Michael prompted. "This we know, Max."  
  
"No, you don't get it," Max said. "I don't regret putting your lives in danger. I never did, even though I told you I was sorry about it. I wasn't sorry. Not a bit. I would do it again in a heartbeat. She is the most important person to me." He looked at Will. "You think you're bad? I'm ten times worse. If I had to choose any of you, ever, I would always choose her. If she asked me to run away with her, to leave all this behind, and to ignore all of it, I'd do it. Without even a second's thought. That's what I need to tell you."  
  
There was a long pause. Max watched Isabel exchange a glance with Michael. And, then, to his amazement, she burst out laughing. "Are you kidding? Max, [I]that's[/I] your deep, dark secret? I mean, we know [I]that[/I]."  
  
"What?" Max demanded.  
  
"Max, c'mon. We know that you think you would do that, but we also know you wouldn't," Isabel insisted. "You would [I]never[/I] do that."  
  
"Isabel, I think I know what I would do! I did it once before after all." He paused, frowning. "Well, not [I]before[/I] exactly. I would have. In the future. The world ended because I married Liz and made Tess leave town. That was [I]my[/] fault. And I would do it again in a second. Why do you think Future Me had to go to Liz? He knew I couldn't be trusted."  
  
"Max, you didn't know that making that decision would result in the end of the world," Tess told him. "In fact, that wasn't [I]your[/I] fault. You've always told me how you feel. If I left then, that was my decision. You couldn't have stopped me."  
  
"But he told Liz that we treated you badly."  
  
"According to who?" Tess asked. "I have a feeling that what Future Max considered treating me badly wasn't that bad. I mean, I know how you've been with me all along. Kind and thoughtful, and always completely honest. It wasn't your fault if I couldn't deal with it."  
  
"You know, you and Liz need to get over this martyr complex," Michael stated. "I think that's why you're really here, Maxwell. Actually, now that I think about it, Liz seems to know now that she can't always make every decision for all of us by herself. Or at least that's what this whole future fiasco has taught her. You don't know this though. You get to make some decisions that are only about you. And since everything you do is about Liz, it makes sense that you'd get it all mixed up."  
  
"What?" Max demanded. They weren't taking him at all seriously. He was actually a little annoyed.  
  
"Do you think that I think about how everything I do is going to affect you?" Michael asked.  
  
"No, Michael," Isabel put in wryly. "I don't think any of us have ever been in danger of thinking that." Max stared at Tess when she giggled.  
  
Michael just rolled his eyes and continued, "My point is that you think far too much, Maxwell."  
  
"Thinking things through stopped us from killing Brody," Max reminded him.  
  
"That's true," Michael conceded. "But thinking things through also sent that idiot future you back through the granolith to throw the entire blame for the end of the world on Liz's shoulders. I mean, like it was all your and her fault. Any of us could have stepped in and kept Tess with us. But none of us made the effort. That's pretty damn clear."  
  
"Michael, what happened because of Future Me was a good thing," Max snapped. "If it hadn't, Tess would have left and Will, Kate and Jack never would have found us."  
  
"Maybe," Michael shrugged. "All I know is that, it was a pretty stupid thing to think that only you and Liz were responsible." He glanced at Isabel, as though he knew she would agree with him. "Martyr complex." Isabel nodded, as though they had discussed this many times before.  
  
Max stared at his sister. Was it true? Was that why he was really in here? To get over himself?  
  
He remembered suddenly how he had decided a few hours before that he was going to return to Antar and fix everything. That it was [I]his[/I] responsibility, even if he didn't want it, and that he was going to do it. He hadn't even thought about asking the others what they thought. In fact, he realized now that he hadn't thought of asking because, in the grand scheme of things, he hadn't thought that what they wanted - or even they - were very important.  
  
It was only now that he realized that a small part of him believed that he was the only one who [I]could[/I] do it. That having the rest of them there was incidental. How arrogant was that?  
  
He hadn't been ready to completely connect with these people because he hadn't really thought, in his heart, that any of them were necessary. Well, maybe he had thought Liz was necessary, but more because of how important she was to him, then in her own right.  
  
He did believe that part of his reasoning for not involving them was to protect them. He wasn't a complete ass. But he was pretty sure it wasn't a large enough part to make up for the rest of it.  
  
But, in the end, this wasn't just about [I]him[/I]. It was about all eight of them. They were all important parts of the equation, none of them more consequential than any other.  
  
And, as this thought passed through his mind, the entire world seemed to shift on its axis.  
  
Max shook his head, trying to get his bearings. He felt a warmth run through his entire body, a warmth that had been missing since this connection had started. When he opened his eyes again, what he knew to be true was confirmed.  
  
Liz was standing in front of him, smiling. "Hi!" She reached out and hugged him. "You did it!"  
  
He held her tightly, glancing over her head at the others. Jack was there too, standing next to Will. He was looking around with something approximating amazement, as though he couldn't quite believe he was where he was.  
  
"I guess so," Max replied, grinning, although he still felt the shame of his conceit running through his veins.  
  
"What happened?" Liz asked.  
  
"I'll tell you," Max said, "but later. Right now, we need to bring Kate back."  
  
Liz nodded. "You're right." She smiled slightly. "I have a feeling that I'm about to find out anyway, if this works properly." She moved away from Max, passing Kate's still body. She crouched, touched her hand gently to the motionless brunette's forehead. "We're coming for you, Kate. Just hold on a little while longer."  
  
No more words were necessary. Within seconds, they were all back in their spots on the wheel. Max could feel the tension running through them all, the mere presence of Liz and Jack among them seeming to heighten his connection to everyone else.  
  
Max briefly met the eyes of every other member of the circle. Isabel, his sister. Michael, his brother. Tess, his friend. Jack, the unknown. Will, his, now strangely trusted, enemy. And, finally, Liz, his love.  
  
Whether it was overbearing or not, in that instant, Max knew that they were all looking to him to take the lead. They were trusting him to know what to do.  
  
And, for once, without even thinking about it, as Michael's earlier words ran through his mind - [I]Maxwell, you think too much[/I] - he did.  
  
He closed his eyes, sending his focus out to the rest of the circle. Feeling his friends' energy surging through his veins, he felt more powerful than he ever had before.  
  
This was right. This was what was meant to be. He was not the only important one, but he was the leader. Not because of what had happened before, not because of his destiny, but because they had chosen him.  
  
[I]Let's do this.[/I] 


	46. Chapter 46

[u]Part 46[/u]  
  
The granolith chamber was quiet. After Jack had convinced Liz that there was a reason she had been left out of the connection, the two of them had taken up their places around Kate, the healing stones in their hands, waiting. What they were waiting for, Alex wasn't entirely sure. Would the others come back for them, or would they just be pulled into the connection when it was time?  
  
All he knew was that it was all taking too long. He couldn't quite believe that they didn't all just get over themselves long enough to bring Kate back. He knew that his anger was irrational - that Isabel, Max and the others were as confused by everything that was happening as he was - but he couldn't help it. Kate had been gone for close to three hours now. What if there was a time limit? Whittaker had implied that there was, that if they waited too long, Kate's human body would be unable to accept her essence any longer. With every second that passed, as Liz and Jack stood patiently, watching the others, who were still hanging lifelessly a couple of feet off the ground, Alex felt his own patience wearing thin.  
  
He could not take his eyes off Kate's lifeless form. He still could not quite grasp that she was no longer in there. He had never seen a dead body before. The emptiness of her expression was beyond what he had expected. It was terrifying. How could that empty shell be [I]Kate[/I]? It was just inconceivable to him. It made him feel helpless, and brought home, yet again, how dangerous his friends' lives were.  
  
It was one of the reasons he had contemplated getting out of the alien abyss permanently - the danger, and the fear that went with it. It hadn't all been about Isabel and her lack of interest in pursuing anything romantic with him. He didn't want to die. He was young and he had his whole life ahead of him. In some ways, it was a terrifying prospect, remaining tied to these people. He could [I]still[/I] get out, could still live a long, healthy life, pretending that he'd never known anything about kings, queens, and princesses from other planets; that he'd never heard a word about four squares, or pods, or shapeshifters.  
  
But, in the end, it was even more terrifying contemplating life without them.  
  
What had happened to Kate - losing her before he'd even had a chance to know her; the fact that she had died before she had really [I]lived[/I] - had driven home that there was more to life than just breathing. That living and loving were not exclusive. He couldn't really choose one over the other. He wasn't just thinking about romantic love either. Because leaving the alien abyss would mean leaving behind Liz, and Maria, and Isabel. It was all or nothing with his friends. And, when it came right down to it, there was really no decision to be made. There never had been. He couldn't even [I]imagine[/I] not being a part of this anymore. He, quite simply, cared too much. He always had.  
  
The real problem wasn't that he wanted out of the alien abyss. The real problem was that he wanted [I]in[/I] -completely. And, because he was human, he would never really be a part of the group. He would never truly be one of them. He would always be left behind, waiting. The question now was, could he be that brave? Could he be strong enough to accept that the people he loved most in the world would always be in danger? That there would always be the threat that one of them would be taken before their time? The possibility was there. The reality of it had been proven by what had happened to Kate, the one person he suspected might someday become the most important of all.  
  
How could he do it? How could he endure it, when just standing here now, when he was pretty sure none of them were really in any danger, was the worst torture he had ever dealt with?  
  
"Are you okay?" Alex felt Maria take his hand. He looked down at his best friend, who was leaning into him, her eyes glued to the spectacle in front of them.  
  
"Not really," he admitted, squeezing her hand. "It really sucks being the one left behind."  
  
"I know," Maria replied quietly. Alex saw Liz's eyes shift slightly from where she stood. She had been staring at Max intently, but she obviously could hear them, and was curious. Maria seemed to notice too, because she lowered her voice. "It's not that I'm jealous of Liz," she continued. "I'm not. I know this has all been incredibly hard and painful for her."  
  
"But she gets to play a role," Alex finished for her. "She doesn't have to stand on the sidelines and just be a cheerleader." He paused, then added, "I guess we know now why everything always seemed more intense between Liz and Max. She was one of them all along." He looked down at Maria, embarrassed, and a little ashamed. "You say you aren't jealous, but, you know what? I was. I am."  
  
Maria sighed, nodding her head slightly, in agreement. "We're complete idiots, you know."  
  
"Yup," Alex agreed. He knew they were. That Liz had been through hell - that if she had been given the choice, she might not have chosen to be "one of them." She had chosen Max of her own free will, but she hadn't chosen Antar. She hadn't chosen Rowena.  
  
And, yet, he was still jealous.  
  
"Is it worth it?" Maria asked him. "Alex, do you think the small part of them we get to share is worth the pain of what we don't?"  
  
Alex didn't answer right away. He felt Liz's eyes on him, met hers. He blinked. He read the expression on her face quite easily, knowing her as well as he did.  
  
She was worried. And, not about Max and the others. Not at that moment. No, she was worried about [I]him.[/I]  
  
Because, after all, it went both ways. Worry wasn't a one way street. They worried about their friends being in danger, and their friends worried right back.  
  
He felt his heart lighten slightly. "It's worth it," he told Maria, smiling slightly at Liz, before shifting his gaze back to Kate. "But I think we're going to have to work on our patience," he added wryly.  
  
"Is there a class for that?" Maria inquired.  
  
Alex brought his arm up around her shoulders, squeezing. "No, but there is a support group."  
  
Looking back on it later, Alex realized that the whole moment had been as if the granolith had been testing [I]them[/I] too. It was almost like it had been waiting for them to accept their part of the burden, of being a part of the group, before it would allow things to move forward. Because as the words left his lips, the time for patience ended.  
  
Alex heard Maria gasp slightly, followed her eyes to Liz. His dark-haired friend was staring down at the stone, which sat in her palms. It was beginning to light up from within, at an even pace, not as erratically as the other stones had when Isabel, Max, and the others had been pulled into the connection without her.  
  
He felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders when the other five gathered around Kate descended to the floor. They still weren't [I]back[/I] in the granolith chamber, but it was obvious that they were back in control of wherever they were.  
  
"Are you ready?" Jack asked Liz.  
  
Alex's friend nodded. Before she closed her eyes, Liz looked at Alex directly again. "We're going to bring her back to you, Alex."  
  
"I know," he told her.  
  
And, as Liz closed her eyes to join the others, he did know it. Just like he knew that he would be waiting for Kate when she opened her eyes.  
  
***  
  
Liz reached out with all her senses. It felt different this time - completely different. Before, when the connection had failed, she hadn't sensed anything, not even Max. It had been terrifying, mainly because she had become so used to his presence lingering in the back of her mind, that when it had disappeared, she hadn't quite been able to adjust to its absence. It had been impossible to accept the big, blank spot where he had been.  
  
The big, blank spot was gone. Oh boy, was it gone.  
  
She was almost overwhelmed by the images passing through her mind.  
  
[I]Shame[/I].  
  
That was Will. Liz sighed, knew that his guilt, over all that he had done, was taking its toll on him. She felt bad that she had reacted so poorly to his revelations. All that he had feared had come true. She knew, deep down, that she had not been wrong about him. He had taken the wrong road, but it had also not taken him long to realize it. With Kate's "death," the price he had been forced to pay for his action was too high.  
  
[I]Determination[/I].  
  
Jack. Liz didn't know him well, but she sensed that it was him. Something in his essence was similar to the way he had convinced her to believe in herself in the granolith chamber. She was looking forward to learning more about him.  
  
[I]Fear.[/I]  
  
Surprisingly, this was Michael. Of everyone, Liz was shocked that he was the one most scared of what they were going to learn. She sensed that it had something to do with Maria. Her friend's face was uppermost in Michael's thoughts.  
  
[I]Calm.[/I]  
  
Liz recognized Isabel next. Max's sister was not afraid. She was, in fact, eager to finally learn the true story of who she had been. It was clear to Liz, though, through the connection, that this was a new development. Something that had happened here had changed Isabel's attitude.  
  
[I]Uncertainty.[/I]  
  
Liz's heart went out to her sister. Tess was unsure that she was ready to know how completely she had been lied to by Nasedo. She wanted to know, but she didn't, at the same time. She was also wary of what Will was going to do - was unsure that he could be trusted. Finally, Liz felt the stirrings of fear in Tess. She was scared of something.that Liz was going to see.  
  
Liz blinked, then sighed. She sent out reassurance to her sister. It wasn't like she didn't already know that Tess still had feelings for Max. It was going to take time for that to change.  
  
[I]Love.[/I]  
  
The last person she encountered was Max, but he was, of course, the one who ended up anchoring her. She was able to shut out some of what the others were sending her, by latching onto him. She couldn't explain how she did it, but it happened. It was a good thing too. The flashes from the others were still coming fast and furious, and were, in fact, starting to give Liz a headache.  
  
It took all of her willpower to make them slow down. Feeling Max's familiar presence gave her the final strength to accomplish it. It was what allowed her to join the connection not only with her senses, but physically as well.  
  
In the end, because of it, Max was the one she first [I]saw[/I] in the connection.  
  
He was staring down at her, looking a little astonished, and not a little pleased.  
  
"Hi!" She reached out and hugged him. "You did it!"  
  
Max held her tightly, making her laugh slightly, not at him, but in relief. She could tell by the way he held her, that he had been just about as freaked by her disappearance from his mind as she had been by his from hers.  
  
"I guess so," he murmured into her hair.  
  
She also felt something more. He was a little embarrassed. She wondered at it.  
  
"What happened?" Liz asked, curious  
  
"I'll tell you," Max said, "but later. Right now, we need to bring Kate back."  
  
Liz nodded. "You're right." She smiled slightly. "I have a feeling that I'm about to find out anyway, if this works properly." She didn't elaborate on the fact that she already knew more about the others than she ever had before. She looked around, saw them watching her - waiting. They all seemed a bit tense. Liz realized that she [I]felt[/I] it too - that she was a little overwhelmed by what they had shown her - but more than that, she felt close to them - loved them.  
  
It was pretty clear that they didn't all feel that way. She wondered what they had seen from [I]her[/I] when she'd made the connection.  
  
Well, at the moment, it was unimportant. Moving away from Max, she passed Kate's still form in the centre of the circle. She bent slightly, thought of Alex, and for him, she touched her new friend gently on the hair. "We're coming for you, Kate. Just hold on a little while longer."  
  
Taking her place in the circle, Liz glanced around at the others. She wondered what was going to happen next. She felt her attention being drawn to Max, noticed that everyone else, including Will, was turning towards him as well. Her boyfriend was now clearly focused on the task at hand. Somehow, naturally, they were asking him to take the lead. Liz felt a surge of pride when he did so, without a moment's hesitation.  
  
[I]Let's do this.[/I]  
  
She heard Max in her head, didn't need him to elaborate. She knew what he wanted from her.  
  
Without hesitation, Liz threw her entire will towards Max. She felt him catch her easily. Her entire body started to tingle as, what could only be described as, his essence, or perhaps, more exactly, his [I]soul[/I], entwined with hers, filling her up to the point that she gasped, almost unable to handle the [I]completeness[/I] of the sensation.  
  
She couldn't help the thought. She knew that Michael was going to have a field day with it later, but it was the only way to describe it.  
  
[I]This must be what making love will feel like.[/I]  
  
But, that was Max. It was what her connection to him had always felt like. It was different with the others. And this time it was so much more intense, the conclusion was logical. Not that any of this was logical. Not at all.  
  
As they all became tangled up in each other, it was hard to pick out who was who. Liz could feel Max trying to keep them all in line, but their wills were so strong, and so different, it was proving difficult for him. It was a giant mess within moments. Fear, doubt, determination, embarrassment, shame, pride, happiness, misery, hatred. It was all there, until Max eventually started to whittle it all away, refining it into the one thing they needed to accomplish Kate's healing. Liz felt him doing it, could feel his exhaustion at the time it was taking.  
  
He was stripping all of their emotion down to the bare bone, until all that was left was the heart of it. Because at the crux of it all was love. And it was love that was going to bring Kate back to them.  
  
Michael and Isabel got a hold of themselves first, managed to link with each other, thus alleviating some of the stress on Max. They became more clearly defined in the connection when they did it.  
  
The others were a little harder to pull out of the jumble. Liz finally realized that she could sense Tess and Will circling each other, trying to decide if they could trust each other or not. In the end, it was Tess who made the leap. Liz heard her sister snap in her mind, "Get over yourself. This is for Kate."  
  
It worked, because Liz felt a bit stronger, knew that the rest of them felt it too.  
  
Jack was alone, and he was the one who, in the end, was going to have to bring Kate back to the connection. Max would wake her up, but it was Jack who would anchor her.  
  
It was only now, with the seven of them so closely linked, that Liz felt the empty, black space where Kate's essence should be. This was the spot that Max was going to fill with all of their love for the girl they had lost.  
  
As Max slowly poured their healing love into the darkness that was Kate's soul, an brief, bright flash blinded Liz, although she knew that her eyes were not open. She felt a great tearing within, as though her very heart was being torn from her body. She swallowed, trying to control the pain. It wasn't so bad. If it meant bringing Kate back, it was worth it. She thought she heard Tess scream. Liz tried to find her sister within her mind, to soothe her, but by the time she got there, she was already being comforted by Will and Isabel.  
  
She could hear Jack calling out in her mind. [I]Kate! Katie, we're here for you! Kate! Come back![/I]  
  
And, then, abruptly, it all stopped.  
  
It was as if the entire world had stopped turning. Liz sensed that she was holding her breath.  
  
Gradually, slowly, Liz became aware of a delicate presence on the edge of her awareness.  
  
Kate.  
  
She was there.  
  
It was only then that the air rushed back into Liz's lungs. Later, when she and Max discussed what had happened, she realized that all seven of them had stopped breathing in order to take that first gulp of air with Kate, as she came back to them.  
  
Opening her eyes, Liz found herself back in the cave beneath the granolith chamber.  
  
Liz met Max's gaze across the circle. He looked entirely too pale, but he managed to smile weakly at her.  
  
And, then, they both dropped their eyes to Kate. She still lay quietly on the floor, but, Liz felt tears threatening as something else became clear.  
  
Kate's eyes were open. Not only that, but they were alert. A slight frown was forming on her pretty face, as she obviously tried to understand what had happened to her.  
  
It was Alex who moved when the dark-haired girl struggled to raise her head. He was on his knees beside her a moment later, helping her to sit up. Kate was looking around, her gaze drifting from face to face, as though trying to place them.  
  
For one, brief, horrifying moment, Liz absolutely [I]knew[/I] that Kate did not recognize any of them. She looked at Max, who seemed to be coming to the same conclusion.  
  
But, in the end, they needn't have worried. Kate's gaze came to rest back on Alex, who was cradling her gently against his chest. She licked her lips, smiled slightly, and then, very carefully, reached up and touched his face.  
  
"Alex."  
  
To be continued. 


	47. Chapter 47

Part 47  
  
She would always remember that the first thing she felt when she returned was the chill. She never again forgot how cold living could be.  
  
The experience of being brought back was strange in, and of, itself. It was like being pulled back through a long tunnel, wrenched from warmth and security, into a world not of her choosing. She had not been traditionally born in this lifetime but, afterward, she knew what it must be like for a new baby, hauled from its mother's womb, in some ways, against its will.  
  
But, whether she willed it or not, she heard them calling for her, recognized that she was needed, and she went.  
  
When she opened her eyes, for several long moments, she had no idea who she was, or where she had come from. She felt the terror of it deep in her belly. She gasped slightly, struggling to sit up.  
  
Where am I?  
  
Her second memory of returning was of how quickly everything could change. Because, while she always remembered it, the seconds when she felt the cold, the confusion, and the fear, were quickly replaced. She felt someone touching her, helping her to sit up. Heat flooded her body, as her eyes scanned the anxious faces gathered around her.  
  
Biting her lip, she knew that they were familiar, but her thoughts were in turmoil. It was too much. She focused instead on the warmth, on the strong arms holding her.  
  
She looked up and recognized him immediately. She smiled. She had heard him calling her. Not as the others had, with their voices, but she had heard him calling her with his heart.  
  
She had come back for him. She knew this to be true.  
  
And, yet, she was unsure. She lifted a trembling hand to touch his face. "Alex." She meant it as a question, but it came out as a certainty. Her heart knew, after all.  
  
He was starting down at her, as though not quite believing she had spoken. His dark eyes were a little watery, but he smiled. "Kate."  
  
Kate. I am Kate.  
  
She remembered everything after that. It all came flooding back, forcing her eyes closed again. His had been the last face she'd seen before the dark had come, and now it was the first she knew back in the light.  
  
Because there was light here. There had been warmth, and security, and happiness, and freedom there, once she had gone through the darkness. But they were here, too. Just different.  
  
He was here.  
  
Kate heard movement somewhere beyond him, but she could not take her eyes from Alex's face. His head was lowering towards her, and in the next moment, he was pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Welcome back," he whispered.  
  
They sat there for what must have been a long time, but it did not seem that way to Kate. Finally, it was clear that the others could not wait.  
  
"I'm sorry, Alex. I just need to check her over to make sure she's okay."  
  
She recognized the voice, knew it as one that had called her back. She looked past Alex, saw him watching her with his gentle eyes.  
  
Zan.  
  
His name, coming to her as it did, made her think of them all. Zan. Rowena. Vilandra. Rath. Serena. Jondar. And Khivar. They had all been there. They had all worked together to bring her back.  
  
She started to laugh. She couldn't help it. They had all worked together. It was a miracle!  
  
Kate could see that Alex was looking down at her with concern. He helped her to sit up more completely.  
  
"I want to stand," she told him quietly.  
  
He opened his mouth to protest, but, after a pause, said mildly, "Lean on me, if you need to."  
  
"I'm okay," Kate addressed Zan. "But, thanks."  
  
"Katie, let him look at you."  
  
Turning her head, Kate regarded her brother, feeling something close to amazement. Did he really just ask her cooperate with Zan? Will was standing stiffly, his arms folded across his chest. She frowned. Why did he look like he was waiting for the other shoe to.  
  
It did not take long for her to remember why Will was so tense. The anger of the moment when she had realized that Will had betrayed them ran through her, as though it had been mere moments before. Of course, she had no idea how long it was since.what had happened to her, so perhaps it had been.  
  
She looked briefly at Alex. "How long have I been gone?"  
  
"About three hours," Alex told her gently, as though the news might upset her.  
  
Three hours. It felt like three years. She could sense how completely everything had changed between them all. Will was upset, yes, but his was the only unease in the room. Everyone else was comfortable, focused on her, but not wary of each other.  
  
They had all forgiven her brother for what he had done. She knew it. His guilt was still there, but none of the rest of them wanted him to feel it.  
  
Kate glanced at Liz, who was staring at her, her brown eyes wary. "Kate, do you need to be alone?" She looked at Will meaningfully. "Or sort of alone? We can leave."  
  
"No," Kate said quickly. "This needs to be said in front of everyone." She paused, smiled slightly. "No more secrets, am I right?" It was something she remembered from the connection, something that had greeted her upon her return. Trust bound them all to each other now.  
  
"No more secrets," Liz agreed.  
  
"Kate, please let Max look at you," Will pleaded.  
  
Kate tilted her head, examined her brother. "Why? I'm fine. You've all made sure of that."  
  
"Kate, you were dead," Will replied. "We need to know that you're really okay."  
  
"I'm fine, Will," she repeated. She took a careful step forward, was relieved when her legs held her up. With every movement, she was regaining her strength. She was glad that Alex kept a firm hold on her elbow though, helping her. Moments later, she stood in front of her brother, reached up and took his face between her hands. "Khivar, listen to me." She realized too late that she had called him by his other name. She never called him Khivar. It had been a secret for so long, it had always seemed unnatural. But now, after the connection, she was thinking of them all by their real names.  
  
She wondered if it made them uncomfortable. She thought about what she would feel if she was called "Karana." If, finally, now that all the hiding was behind them, she would accept the name again. Kate glanced briefly at Alex, frowned. She couldn't even imagine hearing a name other than "Kate" on his lips.  
  
But she was getting distracted from her purpose. Will was pulling away from her. "I'm not going to let it be this easy. Kate, I'm not going to let you forgive me."  
  
She was forced to smile at that. "It's not your choice, brother. Khivar, in my heart, you were forgiven before I even thought to do it. It is important for us all to move on now."  
  
She paused, frowning slightly, as she mentally examined her words. She had meant every one of them, but there was something wrong. Her speech patterns were off. She recognized that. She felt mildly uncomfortable in the skin to which she had been returned. She wondered what it meant.  
  
Looking around, Kate found the shapeshifter watching her from a corner. He was standing apart from the group, not truly with them, but contemplative of the scene, as she was sure a protector was supposed to be. If the shapeshifters had ever really protected them, of course. Which they never had.  
  
"Kate?" Alex's voice was low. He seemed to sense that something was amiss, apart from Will's inability to accept forgiveness, as the present shaking of her brother's dark head seemed to indicate.  
  
"What happened to me in there?" Kate asked Grant. She knew that something was awry, that while she remembered being Kate, she didn't exactly feel like the person she had been before.  
  
"I can't answer that," he told her, glancing to his right. "Maybe she can." Kate followed his gaze, found herself looking at someone she had never expected to see again.  
  
"Venora?" Kate felt her brow wrinkle, as she tried to understand. "But you're supposed to be dead. Vilandra killed." She paused, grimaced, looking at Isabel. "Sorry."  
  
"Don't worry about it," Isabel replied. Kate stared at the tall blonde for a long moment. She realized that she had been wrong before. Will was not the only one on edge. Isabel seemed pretty tense as well. Kate wondered at the brief insight she felt that it had nothing to do with the congresswoman, and everything to do with the fact that Alex was still holding her close. "It turns out that her name isn't Venora," Isabel continued. "She's really Rowena's sister, Serena."  
  
Kate returned her gaze to the one she had grown up knowing as Venora. "I don't understand."  
  
"Like the original Khivar didn't die, the original Serena didn't either," Max elaborated patiently. "She followed us here after we were sent because the shapeshifters were traitors. She was also the one who originally cloned us."  
  
Kate looked at Tess. "So, you're her clone. And she was a clone of Rowena." She remembered being told the truth about Tess before.  
  
Tess smiled slightly. "Something like that. Just toss in some human DNA and Ava of Knosis and you'll have it."  
  
"What?" Kate shook her head, unsure if Tess was joking or not.  
  
"Never mind," Venora said. "None of that matters. You'll learn it all in the granolith anyway. Kate, do you feel up to retrieving more memories with the others? It can be put off, but I think the rest of the group is fairly anxious to proceed. Isabel and Jack have been incomplete long enough."  
  
"I really don't think this is a good." Alex started to say.  
  
Kate squeezed his arm gently and he stopped talking. "More memories?"  
  
"You feel different," Venora/Serena asked. "Don't you? I can tell. It's because you are much closer to who you were before than the others. After your ordeal, your essence was called back to your body with the healing stones. But you have been in contact with your purest self for several hours. It is only understandable that you feel a little strange. The memories will come eventually. They are there, merely waiting to be awoken by further connection with your four square."  
  
"Are we all going to feel different?" Michael spoke up here. He was standing with Maria, his arm slung over her shoulders. He didn't sound very pleased at the prospect.  
  
"I would expect so," Serena shrugged. "Don't tell me you're changing your mind? After what you all just accomplished by connecting with each other, I would have thought you'd be even more eager to pursue your true self." Kate could hear the envy in her tone, didn't understand it. "You will all achieve a bond that your past incarnations were never granted. It is going to be a good thing. It will more than make up for any differences you might endure."  
  
"I don't want to be different," Michael snapped. He looked at Kate. "You don't [I]seem[/I] that different. You just talk kind of strangely. I mean, you obviously still remember who you were." He glanced at Alex, raised an eyebrow meaningfully. "You still have Kate's feelings." He said the last as though willing her to confirm it.  
  
Kate met Alex's eyes, then lowered her gaze when her cheeks suddenly felt hot. They had never, not once, spoken of what this was between them. She certainly didn't want to start now, in front of all the others. Forgiving Will publicly was one thing. Discussing her feelings for Alex was something entirely different.  
  
"Michael!" Liz exclaimed, sounding annoyed.  
  
"What?" Michael demanded. "You were in that connection too, Liz. You know I'm not off-base here. What's the harm in her admitting it?"  
  
"Michael, shut-up." This was Maria. Kate did not look up though. She could feel her heart pounding at about fifty times the usual speed.  
  
"I still have my feelings," she finally confirmed softly. "None of that has changed." She refused to look at Alex directly. She hadn't confirmed anything, but she suspected they all understood what she meant.  
  
"Then I'm in," Michael was saying to the group at large. "I say we get this over with."  
  
"There's still a lot of stuff to discuss," Liz reminded him.  
  
"Like what?" Michael demanded. "Everything will still be here when we get back, to discuss," he added sarcastically. "I'm tired of discussing. We need to know."  
  
"God, Michael," Isabel sighed. "Is it possible for you to do anything without going from 0 to 100 miles an hour in ten seconds?"  
  
"You're the one who needs your essence back, Isabel," Michael shot back. "It seems to me, the sooner we're all back to normal, the better for all of us."  
  
"Is this really necessary?" Tess flared. "It's not our decision anyway!"  
  
There was a long moment of silence. Finally, raising her eyes, Kate realized that everyone was now staring at Max, who momentarily seemed taken aback that they had all turned to him. He had been mostly quiet up to this point. Looking at him now, Kate understood that he had been watching her this whole time, judging for himself if she was all right. She had not given him permission to do it physically, but he had been trying to ascertain it from a distance.  
  
Now, getting hold of himself, he smiled at her, his gentle smile, the one that stirred the sense of familiarity she had known in his presence since first seeing him in the flesh a couple of days before. "May I?"  
  
Knowing that allowing it would settle the whole dispute once and for all, Kate nodded. She was fine, after all.  
  
Max stepped forward, gently laid his hands on her shoulders. "Just take deep breaths, and let your mind blank out," he instructed.  
  
Kate did as he asked, focusing on his amber eyes - the eyes that were exactly the same as they had always been, even if they now shone out of a human face.  
  
The flashes, when they came, were reassuring. They were the same visions into his soul that he had shared the other time they'd made a connection, on Liz's balcony. His goodness was the first thing she encountered, as well as his desire to do the right thing, no matter the cost to himself. Finally, and most importantly, she felt the intensity of his love for all of them, but for Liz in particular. She remembered briefly when she had first encountered that truth - that Zan loved Rowena. It had changed everything, for all of them. Apparently in two lifetimes. And, yet, they still didn't know the whole story.  
  
They needed to retrieve their memories. Once and for all, the reality of who they had been before, and what they had done, needed to be known. They could not move forward without exorcising the past.  
  
Max knew this too. Kate understood that in the connection. But she also felt that he would not allow any of this to proceed if she was unready.  
  
I can do it, she told him firmly, in her mind. Please. You know I can.  
  
Kate blinked when Max stepped back abruptly, a slight smile on his face. "I know it," he told her. He then looked around at the rest of them. "She's okay. Physically, she's fine. I think doing this now will only strengthen her emotionally."  
  
"But, Max, are you sure?" Isabel asked. "I mean, she died. How can she just be all right?"  
  
"I can speak for myself," Kate reminded Isabel gently. "I really am okay, Isabel."  
  
"She's even beginning to sound normal," Michael added, clearly trying not to show his impatience.  
  
"Michael," Maria sighed, sounding frustrated. "Can you be any more insensitive?"  
  
"Okay, then," Max said, obviously trying to head an argument off at the pass. "We'll try it in a few minutes. I need to talk to Serena first, make sure we know exactly what to expect. I'm sure the rest of you can find something with which to occupy yourselves." He looked directly at Kate while saying this. She stared at him. It abruptly dawned on her that Max didn't really need to talk to Serena at all, but that he was giving her a few minutes because he knew that she had something else to do before they connected with the granolith.  
  
Glancing over her shoulder, Kate found Alex standing nearby, although he hadn't touched her again since Michael's embarrassing revelations. She looked around uncomfortably, realized that everyone else had somehow managed to migrate to the other side of the chamber, meaning that they were virtually alone. She met Isabel's eyes very briefly before turning back to Alex. The tall, blonde held her gaze steadily for a long moment, and then smiled at her. Kate felt almost as though a blessing had been bestowed upon her. A fleeting memory of Vilandra flitted through her mind, making her smile back.  
  
"They're pretty obvious, huh?"  
  
Kate took a deep breath, turned to face Alex. He was shaking his head, looking mildly embarrassed, but not so much so that he couldn't meet her eyes. "Kind of," she replied, biting her lip.  
  
"I don't know what the expect us to do," he added. "I mean, it's not like this is the last time we're going to see each other or something." He swallowed visibly. "After what happened before.this is kind of weird." He looked down, stuffed his hands into his pockets.  
  
Kate watched him silently, completely unsure what she was supposed to say in this situation. She had never even considered having feelings like this for anyone before. It was becoming pretty obvious that the feelings she had developed for Alex were not unreciprocated, and, yet, he seemed just as uncertain as she did.  
  
"Maybe." She trailed off, blushing when Alex looked up eagerly. "Maybe we should just agree to talk about it when this is all over."  
  
She felt her stomach clench when he frowned. "When it's all over?" he asked, not sounding pleased at all. "I don't think I can wait that long."  
  
There was a long pause. Kate wondered what she had said wrong. How had she managed to blow it so completely so quickly?  
  
Finally, she took a helpless step forward. Much to her relief, this seemed to reassure him, because his expression softened and he continued, "I have to be honest with you, Kate, I made that mistake once before. Waiting for it all to be over. I let someone I cared about go off in pursuit of her destiny without telling her how I really felt, and I lost her. I'm not taking that chance again. Especially not after losing you once already today." He took a step towards her, so that they were standing mere inches apart. "I don't care if I barely know you. I feel like I do, and that's all that's important. If I've learned anything today, it's that life is short. You deserve to know how I feel."  
  
"How do you feel?" she whispered, breathless.  
  
"I think you know," Alex replied, lowering his head. "But, if you don't, I'll show you."  
  
When his lips finally touched hers, Kate felt like she had stopped breathing altogether. She tentatively lifted her hands, placing them on his chest. She could feel his heart thundering under her palms. She was amazed at it. She was the one making it race like that.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like too short a time, Alex pulled back, so that his gaze met hers again. "I don't care what you find out in there," he told her firmly. "I'm not stepping aside. Kate, Karana, whoever you are, I want the chance to prove to you that being part of a group isn't your only destiny. You do get to have something for yourself, too. You have to remember that." The intensity of his expression warmed her to her very toes. "Please, remember it."  
  
For the first time, Kate had an indication of how nervous he was about what she might find out when the granolith returned her memories. She had to somehow reassure him that nothing she learned could change how she felt about him.  
  
Kate reached out and hugged him, hard. "I will," she whispered into his ear. She didn't know what else to say to him, hoped that it was enough.  
  
With that, she moved away from him, and went to join the others, more eager than ever to get this over with. Because, now she knew exactly what was waiting for her when was done. She also knew how hard this was for Alex, and the last thing she wanted was for him to be worried for longer than necessary. She had already put him through enough.  
  
She could see that Michael and Maria had also taken a moment alone, away from the group. The strawberry blonde was just pulling away from her boyfriend as Kate passed them on her way to her spot beneath the granolith's inverted cone.  
  
"We're all going to leave the pod chamber until you're done," Serena was telling the others, as Kate slipped into the group. They were all there, listening.  
  
Max and Liz were standing close to each other, but not touching. It was as if they were somehow acknowledging that, while this was a group endeavor, they were all going in as individuals too, just as Alex had reminded her. They all belonged here in their own right, and they would all be learning about their own pasts, and would have to deal with it all, in the end, alone.  
  
Will had an unreadable expression on his face. Kate knew that he was deliberately masking his inner turmoil. Whatever he encountered in the granolith would forever end any hope he had that he and Liz were meant for each other. A dream would be dying for her brother. Jack was at his shoulder, though, backing him up, supporting him, as had always been her cousin's way. With their help, and with the strength he often forgot he possessed, Will would survive this.  
  
Tess and Isabel were there, too, both clearly a little nervous, but more eager than anything. Michael was directly behind Kate, having followed her.  
  
"The sheriff is taking the humans out," Serena continued. Kate turned around briefly, saw that it was true. Alex and the others were gone. She felt a flutter of nervousness in the pit of her stomach. This was really going to happen.  
  
"Don't worry," Grant added. "I'll take care of them all."  
  
Kate heard Michael snort behind her. "Great," he muttered. "That is so reassuring."  
  
"What do we have to do exactly?" Max inquired. He was staring at the shining cone intently, a slight frown on his face.  
  
"Just find your handprint," Serena told him. "The granolith recognizes you already. It is just waiting for you all to acknowledge it." She gestured around the shining cone. For the first time, Kate noticed that there were eight handprints ringing the granolith. She felt her heart start to beat more quickly when her eyes landed on one in particular. It did not look entirely [I]human[/I] and, yet, somehow, she knew that it belonged to her. "Touching your handprint will tell it you are ready to accept who you are," Serena continued. "The granolith will do the rest."  
  
With that, she and Grant retreated up the silvery staircase, leaving the eight of them in silence.  
  
When the quiet continued to stretch out, Kate realized that none of them had any intention of saying anything at all. She knew she didn't. Everything that had needed saying had been shared between them all in the connection they had made to bring her back. She had missed some of it, but had joined it long enough to understand that it was true.  
  
They were never all going to be best friends. In fact, she knew for a certainty that some of them even still hated each other. But none of that mattered. Not here. Because, here, in the end, they were the same. Here, they trusted each other. Here, they would finally move forward in spite of their differences.  
  
What was going to happen here today would be the beginning of the end of the conflict that divided their system. Because, in the end, trust was the first and most important step towards reconciliation.  
  
Kate's heart lightened and she knew that she was no longer afraid. She took a step forward, so that she could reach the silver print she knew to be her own. Without anymore hesitation, she placed her hand squarely within it.  
  
And, an instant later, she was no longer Kate at all.  
  
To be continued. 


	48. Chapter 48

[u]Chapter 48[/u]  
  
Liz opened her eyes and found herself staring up at a star-studded sky. She felt her heart start to pound even more quickly than it had when she'd placed her palm on the silver hand-print that she had instinctively known was Rowena's. This time the beating wasn't caused by anticipation, however.  
  
No, this time she was afraid.  
  
And she was afraid because she was alone.  
  
Where were Max and the others? But, more specifically, where the heck was [I]she[/I]? She hadn't expected to be transported anywhere physically in the granolith, but looking around, she knew she had been. She was outside. How had this happened? Had something gone wrong?  
  
Her heart contracted briefly at the thought of Max. Where was he? Was he okay?  
  
Liz climbed carefully to her feet. Looking around, the desolation of the field in which she found herself made her bite her lip.  
  
She was used to emptiness. She spent a lot of time in the desert, after all. But this was not the desert.  
  
Glancing down, Liz confirmed what she had felt under her back upon waking. She was standing on well-manicured grass. Or something [I]like[/I] grass, anyway. She couldn't quite make out what was different about it in the dim light thrown by the stars, but she knew somehow that it was altered.  
  
It was only after she straightened that Liz's mind registered something else that had been different when she had looked down. Quickly glancing over her body again, she was amazed to confirm that she was wearing a long blue dress, not the jeans, sweater and leather jacket in which she had been clad upon entering the pod chamber. Not only that, she was barefoot.  
  
Liz was perplexed. She was still afraid, but more curious now than anything. Was she taking part in some kind of strange Antarian rite? Why had Whittaker not told them that this would happen when they were in the granolith? Did she not know? Of course, Whittaker hadn't seemed to know much, in spite of being Serena, the nominal "inventor" of the increasingly confounding alien artifact.  
  
Looking around again, Liz noticed that the ground inclined slightly above her, in a gentle slope. She wondered what she would find on the other side of that hill. Taking a deep breath, she started to walk. Her steps were tentative, as she somehow knew already that what she was going to see once she reached the top was going to make this situation even stranger.  
  
She was not mistaken. And, yet, it was still beyond her wildest dreams. Gasping, she fell to her knees, her eyes staring in disbelief.  
  
Laid out before her was an absolutely magnificent building, lit up as though a thousand spotlights were shining from within it. It seemed to shimmer against the black sky, its several towers reaching towards the heavens.  
  
"Your highness!"  
  
The voice came from behind her. Liz blinked, whirled, still so shocked, all she could manage to say was, "Oh!"  
  
"Are you well, your highness?" A tall, burly man stood in front of her, a slightly anxious expression on his face. "I told you it would be too cold for you out here. I hope you haven't caught a chill."  
  
Liz looked behind herself, to make sure that he wasn't talking to someone there, then turned back to the man. She had no idea where he had appeared from, but there was no question that he was addressing her. "I.I'm fine," she managed to stutter. "Er.where did you come from?"  
  
"You wanted to be alone," the man shrugged. He motioned towards some tall tree-like plants standing nearby. Liz stared at them. They looked like nothing she had ever seen before. "It is my duty to follow, however. I shifted into the trees." He sounded wary, as though expecting a reprimand.  
  
But it never even crossed Liz's mind to demand why he had been following her. She was too focused on the fact that he had just admitted that he had [I]shifted.[/I] Liz felt her heart drop slightly. A shapeshifter. But why on Earth was he being so open about who he was? The Wendarians were their enemies!  
  
Although, why on [I]Earth[/I] was probably a poor choice of words, Liz thought, almost hysterically. Because, she was beginning to suspect that she wasn't on Earth at all anymore.  
  
"Your highness?" The shapeshifter was starting to sound even more worried. "Are you quite well?"  
  
Liz managed to force herself to focus on maintaining some kind of normal conversation. She knew that she was staring at him like he was some sort of freak, quickly dropped her eyes, as her mind raced frantically.  
  
If she wasn't on Earth, then she had to be on.Well, there were really only five other places she could possibly be. She shook her head in amazement. It was the only explanation that made any sense. She had to be on another [I]planet![/I]  
  
And, yet, this didn't seem to make sense either. Because if she was on Antar, or one of the other planets in the Antarian system, then why did this man look human? And why were they speaking English?  
  
"I'm sorry," Liz eventually replied. "I'm fine."  
  
The man didn't look convinced. "Well, I think you better return to the palace now. Prince Zan will be arriving at any time. You need to be waiting for him."  
  
Liz felt her hear leap. Max! She refused to allow her hopes to rise though, until she confirmed what the shapeshifter was saying.  
  
"Zan?" she inquired tentatively.  
  
"The crown prince of Antar," the shapeshifter reminded her, really frowning now. "He is coming to make his decision about the trade agreement? You [I]invited[/I] him, your highness!"  
  
The trade agreement? Liz felt her heart stop. And, suddenly, she understood everything. She had somehow gone back in time. She [I]was[/I] Rowena and she had ended up back on Valonia, at Rowena's summer palace, right at the point in Antarian history when everything had changed.  
  
This could not be good. Oh no. Not good at all.  
  
Nor did it explain why she was still human if she was Rowena. Because holding her hand up in front of her face now, it looked exactly the same as it always had.  
  
"Of course," Liz made herself reply briskly, as she lowered her hand, knowing that she wasn't going to be able to ask any more questions without raising the shapeshifter's suspicions even further. Until Max arrived, she was just going to have to play along. "I just received a message that he might be delayed until morning. Didn't I tell you?"  
  
For the moment, she would pretend she understood exactly what was happening here. She would play the part until Max arrived and they could figure out how to fix this mess together. Because, this time, there was absolutely no way she was dealing with this alone. Her experience with Future Max had more than taught her a lesson. This was bigger than she was capable of handling by herself.  
  
If what she was beginning to suspect was true - that the granolith had somehow launched her back in time, into Rowena's body at the point when the entire war could still be averted - then there was no way she was going to make any decisions without Max.  
  
God. Why couldn't he be here [I]now[/I]?  
  
"No," the shapeshifter was responding, relaxing slightly.  
  
"Well, I guess I don't tell you everything.do I?" Liz attempted to sound haughty, tried to throw herself into her role, but the last came out slightly squeaky, it suddenly occurring to her that she didn't know whether or not Rowena told this guy everything. What if she [I]did?[/I]  
  
"I don't expect you to, your highness." He sounded offended, but no longer wary. Liz let out a tiny breath of relief, although she felt a slight twinge. Was Rowena generally so rude to her servants?  
  
She didn't address the shapeshifter's annoyance, however. Since she didn't know if it was usual or not, she decided just to ignore his reaction for the moment. Once she understood what was happening here, she could always apologize. And, for all she knew, he was evil. After all, Rowena had been unaware of it at the time, but Liz knew that the Wendarians had been working against the princess the whole time they had been in her employ.  
  
This thought made her back straighten slightly. She might be completely in the dark about some things, but there were other things that she knew, which put her in a position of strength.  
  
Liz started to walk down the slope of the hill, in the direction of the blazing lights, before she abruptly realized that she had no idea where she was going. Not to mention every step hurt. The grass under her feet was far coarser than that on Earth, and it was scraping up the soles of her bare feet mercilessly. She stopped moving. The shapeshifter had moved past her before he realized that she had halted.  
  
He turned to look back at her. He was beginning to sound annoyed when he demanded, "Is there anything amiss?"  
  
Liz felt a slight tremor of fear. Something had flashed briefly in his eyes.Something she thought she recognized as disdain.  
  
Oh yes. There was no question now. The Wendarian plot was well underway. She wasn't the only one playing a role here.  
  
"I'm.I'm fine," Liz finally replied. "I was just wondering." Inspiration hit her like a bolt of lightening. "Where is my sister? Where is Serena?"  
  
Tess. Tess [I]had[/I] to be here somewhere. Zan had known her during the period when he and Rowena had fallen in love after all, which meant that she had to be here. Liz's heart was pounding in anticipation of no longer being alone.  
  
"In the lab, your highness," the shapeshifter replied readily enough. "Where she always is."  
  
"Oh," Liz said, searching her mind for a way to get him to tell her where the lab was, without making herself even more foolish than she did already. Only one solution presented itself.  
  
She placed a hand on her temple, swayed slightly.  
  
"Your highness?" The shapeshifter rushed forward, grabbed her by the elbow, but quickly retreated, as though he had been burned. "I'm sorry, your highness!"  
  
Liz grabbed his arm before he could move away. He was looking at her, his mortification apparent. "For what?" she demanded.  
  
"I touched you without permission."  
  
Liz blinked. "Oh. It's okay. Er." She clutched at his arm, allowing herself to stumble slightly into him. It went against every instinct of self-preservation to be this close to someone who was very likely her enemy, but she had no choice in the matter. Until she figured things out, she was going to have to put on the performance of her life. That she wasn't a very good actress, she knew already. After all, it hadn't taken Max more than a couple of days to figure out that she was lying about having slept with Kyle.  
  
No, she had her work cut out for her, Liz reflected, almost wryly. She felt the urge to laugh again, understood that she was becoming hysterical. Taking a deep breath, Liz looked up at the shapeshifter, who was staring down at her, his confusion clear. "I think you were right," she said quickly. "I think I've caught a chill. I don't know that I can walk back to the palace. I know it isn't usual, but would you please help me to my chamber, so that I can rest before receiving Prince Zan? I then need you to go get my sister. Serena is the only one who can help me now."  
  
The shapeshifter relaxed slightly under her hand. "Very well, your highness." He reached out, tentatively placed an arm around her waist. Liz leaned into him, barely managing to refrain from cringing. The shapeshifter couldn't seem to resist adding, "Maybe next time you'll listen to me, Princess Rowena."  
  
[I]I wouldn't count on it,[/I] Liz thought, her fear starting to be out- maneuvered by her suspicions of this man. After all, her gift was to "see clearly." She was pretty sure she had seen this man's true nature during that split second earlier, when he'd appeared about ready to blast her, his innate sense of superiority almost defeating the carefully laid plot of which he was a part.  
  
The granolith had sent them back here for a reason. Liz would, with the help of Max, Tess, and hopefully the others, figure out what it was, and, then, she prayed, this peculiar nightmare would end.  
  
***  
  
Liz was tapping her fingers impatiently against her thigh, as she awaited Tess's arrival. Or, at least, she was desperately hoping that it would be Tess who showed up in her high-vaulted chamber. She wasn't quite sure what she would do - or say - if Serena proved [I]not[/I] to be Tess. The mere thought of being here all by herself was about enough to shatter the fragile calm she presently possessed. Liz grit her fingernails into the palm of her hands, forced herself to take deep breaths.  
  
She was seated in a fairly preposterous chair at the moment, which stood beside an even more preposterous looking bed. Liz had barely refrained from allowing her mouth to fall open in astonishment as the shapeshifter - whom she now knew was called Yorvin due to the blessed guard who had called a greeting to him as they had passed by - had escorted her to her rooms. The absolute magnificence of the entire palace had been breath-taking, and not a little off-putting. For a scientist, Rowena seemed a little preoccupied with ridiculously opulent decor. Of course, she couldn't entirely blame Rowena, Liz suspected. She had a feeling that the palace probably far out-dated her. Passing through a long hallway, Liz had stared up at frieze after frieze, all of them depicting past rulers of Valonia, and, she assumed, her alien ancestors. They all looked human to her, but Liz knew that they had been far from that at heart.  
  
She still hadn't managed to figure out why everyone looked like they would be able to walk down the main drag of Roswell quite comfortably, without raising an iota of suspicion. She hoped that Tess might have some idea, or might at least be able to help her sort through her own thoughts on the possibilities.  
  
As Liz thought of Tess, a light knock sounded on the door that led to the outer antechamber.  
  
[I]Finally![/I]  
  
"Come in," Liz called out, her heart in her throat. [I]Please be Tess. [/I]Please[I] be Tess.[/I] It did not escape Liz's notice that, not three days before, Tess would have been the absolute last person in the universe she would have wanted to be dependent upon in these circumstances. Standing quickly, she shook her head at the absurdity of all they had learned in such a short time.  
  
Now, except for Max, Maria, and Alex, there was no one she'd rather see.  
  
The door opened. Liz held her breath, letting it out in a great gasp when the familiar curly-haired blonde crossed the threshold.  
  
"Oh, thank God!" Liz exclaimed, flying across the room and throwing her arms around her sister. She pulled back, stared into Tess's blue eyes. "Is it you?"  
  
Tess was staring at her just as hard. She bit her lip, then whispered tentatively, "Liz?"  
  
Liz hugged her again. "It's me! Thank God!" She could feel Tess clutching at her just as desperately. Liz finally pulled back again. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I guess so," Tess replied. "Except for being completely confused." She smiled slightly. "Oh, and except for the fact that I'm about three feet tall and grey. And I thought I was short before." She giggled, sounding about as hysterical as Liz felt. "Well, at least I'm not slimy. Or green."  
  
Liz stared at her. "What? You're not grey! You look exactly the same!"  
  
Tess blinked. "No I don't. Liz, I've seen myself in the mirror. They're all over the place in that lab I showed up in."  
  
"Tess, you look human." Liz paused, perplexed. "Is that why you asked if it was me?"  
  
"Yeah," Tess confirmed. "It [I]sounded[/I] like you, but I wasn't sure, because you sure don't [I]look[/I] like you."  
  
Liz pulled away from Tess, and hurried to the mirror across the chamber. Staring into it, what she already knew to be true was proved. She looked exactly the same as she always had. Long dark hair, brown eyes, even, but kind of boring, features. She looked over her shoulder at Tess. "I look like [I]me[/I], Tess."  
  
Tess sat down on the chair Liz had recently vacated, shaking her blonde curls. "Not to me you don't."  
  
Liz frowned, searching her mind for an answer. When one finally came to her, it seemed so obvious, she couldn't understand why she hadn't thought of it before. "Oh my God. It's my gift."  
  
"What?" Tess demanded.  
  
"Think about it. Rowena sees people as they really are - their true natures. We're here, we're back living the lives we screwed up so royally last time." She paused, wrinkled her nose, "Excuse the pun. But I must be seeing us this way because I know who we really are. We're still Liz and Tess. Inside, I mean." She stopped again, shaking her head. "That still doesn't explain why everyone [I]else[/I] looks human to me.  
  
Tess shrugged. "Well, it sounds like as good an explanation as any. I don't really care anyway. What I want to know is, how the heck did we get here? I mean, obviously the granolith, but why did it send us [I]back[/I] here?"  
  
Liz went and sat in another chair, which faced Tess's at an angle. "I'm assuming it wants us to fix things."  
  
"Oh," Tess sighed, falling back into her chair wearily. "Because time travel worked so well for us [I]last[/I] time. What with all the emotional devastation and all."  
  
"Well, it kind of did," Liz said, forcing the image of Max's face when he had caught her in bed with Kyle from her mind. "I mean, we know a lot more than we ever would have otherwise."  
  
"We assume we know more," Tess reminded her. "We don't know for sure. Thanks to Future Max and his stupid rules."  
  
"That's true," Liz admitted.  
  
They sat in silence for a long moment, simply staring at each other, brown eyes glued to blue.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Tess finally whispered.  
  
"We wait for Max," Liz replied. "He should be here anytime."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Don't you know when this is?" Liz asked.  
  
"No," Tess replied. "I didn't ask any questions. I just tried to get through it. I was apparently in the middle of some huge experiment when I suddenly popped in here." She grimaced. "I'm pretty sure my lab assistants think I went momentarily insane."  
  
"What do you mean?" Liz asked.  
  
"Well, since I had no idea what I was doing, I just started accidentally dropping things so that I wouldn't screw things up for good," Tess answered, sounding a little embarrassed. "I'm assuming she was working on something to do with the cloning. The last thing I wanted to do was mess that up. I mean." She trailed off, raised her eyebrows meaningfully.  
  
"Without Serena's experiments, we wouldn't exist," Liz finished for her.  
  
"Right."  
  
"Good thinking," Liz told her. "But we better hope that Serena's already designed the basic gist of it, because otherwise we're in big trouble. If that cloning doesn't happen eventually, we'll go poof back on Earth."  
  
"But are we still on Earth?" Tess demanded. "I mean, how can we be? We're here."  
  
"I'm assuming that our bodies are still on Earth, but our essences are here," Liz said. "I've been thinking about it ever since I realized what must have happened. It's the only thing that makes any sense."  
  
"So the granolith was designed for time travel all along, but only of our essences?" Tess guessed.  
  
"I think so," Liz replied. "When Future Max came back, Serena.well, you." Liz sighed. "No, I guess it must have been Serena/Whittaker who did it.Anyway, she must have modified it to take his [I]physical[/I] form back in time, not just his essence."  
  
"How do you figure all this stuff out?" Tess demanded. "I'm getting a headache just thinking about it. And I'm supposed to be the one with all of it in my brain somewhere."  
  
"Well, we're clones," Liz said. "It's got to be in both of our brains."  
  
Tess laughed slightly. "How weird is this anyway?"  
  
"Pretty weird," Liz admitted. "You know what I was thinking before you came in here?"  
  
"Let me guess," Tess suggested, sounding wry. "That you couldn't believe that you were actually hoping it was [I]me[/I] who came in. And how strange that was, because a week ago, I would have been the last person you'd want to see."  
  
Liz stared at her. "How did you know that?"  
  
"We're sisters, Liz," Tess replied. Liz liked the way she said it deliberately, as though avoiding the use of the word [I]clone[/I] at any cost. Because, in the end, even though they might share DNA, they were still two entirely different people, shaped by their separate experiences and souls. "But, up until a day ago, we also hated each other's guts. And I was thinking the exact same thing as I waited for you to tell me to come in. I have absolutely no idea what I would have done if it hadn't been [I]you.[/I]"  
  
Liz smiled, leaned forward and squeezed Tess's hand. "You would have managed, Tess. We both would have. I'm just glad we don't have to."  
  
"No kidding," Tess agreed. "And when Max gets here, we can all figure this out together."  
  
Liz felt her heart lighten even more. Maybe this wasn't as bad a situation as she had originally thought. After all, they had enough information about what had gone wrong to hopefully change things for the better. The war didn't [I]have[/I] to happen. A lot of it had been caused by simple misunderstanding, and also by behind the scenes manipulation. They could stop it all this time.  
  
It was then, and only then, that the ultimate complication in all of this occurred to Liz. She sank back in her chair, her hope draining out of her so quickly, even the thought that Max would soon be with them wasn't enough to console her.  
  
"What's wrong?" Tess demanded. "Liz, are you okay?"  
  
"I just realized.Tess, if we change things." Liz swallowed, met her sister's wide, concerned eyes. "Tess, that can't be the reason we're here. Or, if it is, I don't know if we can actually do it."  
  
"Why not?" Tess asked, beginning to sound frightened again.  
  
"Tess, if we change what happened in this system before we died here." Liz trailed off, closing her eyes against the headache that was starting to pound through her head. She took a deep, fortifying breath before continuing. "If we change things, Tess, then there won't be any need to send us to Earth. We will no longer exist there. Absolutely [I]everything[/I] will change."  
  
Liz heard Tess gasp slightly, but didn't open her eyes. She didn't want to see the horror and fear she was feeling reflected on her sister's face. She didn't want to see Tess realize what she had instantly grasped.  
  
With the fate of five worlds balanced upon their actions here, there was really no choice. They could not allow the war to happen. Which meant that their lives in Roswell would never exist. They would never [I]need[/I] to exist.  
  
They were never going home again.  
  
After that, she and Tess sat in silence until Yorvin came to tell them that Prince Zan's shuttle had landed.  
  
Because, in the end, there was nothing left to say.  
  
***  
  
In spite of the fact that she was excited to see Max, Liz's mood was heavy as she stood beside Tess on the landing platform. Her thoughts were in turmoil, her heart having been in debate with her head since she had realized what their interference in the Antarian system's history was really going to mean.  
  
[I]At least I have Max and Tess,[/I] one argument went. It was quickly countered by, [I]But can you really live without seeing your parents, or Alex, or Maria, again?[/I]  
  
[I]I have a responsibility to millions of people[/I], her brain reminded her. [I]But I didn't choose to be queen! Why is it [I]my[/I] job?[/I]  
  
[I]Because that's what being queen is going to [/I]mean, her head replied impatiently. [I]You, and what you want, [/I] doesn't [I] come first. Haven't you learned that yet?[/I]  
  
Apparently she had not. Because, even though she knew what they had to do, even though she knew she would have Max, even though she wasn't a completely selfish wench, something still seemed off with the entire situation. There was no [I]choice,[/I] and, yet, she also knew that the entire extent of what was going on here had not been fully revealed. She wasn't sure [I]how[/I] she knew it, but she did.  
  
Later, looking back, she understood that it was because she was already trying to connect with Max on the shuttle, even before it landed, that her uncertainty was so pronounced. But, at the time, she was so preoccupied, what with the fact that Max was actually arriving on a [I]spaceship[/I], and they were somehow going to have to accept the fact that they were never going home, that it wasn't until the shuttle's gang-way lowered that Liz realized what was [I]truly[/I] wrong.  
  
She couldn't sense Max. He was supposed to be on that ship, but something had obviously gone wrong. Because, he wasn't. Reaching out with her senses, Liz frantically searched through the many essences crowded into the small shuttle.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Liz grabbed Tess's hand. "Te.Serena. I don't think he's on."  
  
She frowned when an honor guard of six soldiers, wearing grey armour with the familiar whirlwind galaxy insignia, descended the ramp, preceding the dignitary. If it wasn't Max - Zan - it was obviously someone of equal importance.  
  
It couldn't possibly be Max. She would [I]know[/I] if it was Max.  
  
And, yet, in the end, it was.  
  
He appeared at the top of the gangway, his face an unreadable mask. He looked out, and his dark, familiar eyes met hers. Liz couldn't read what he was thinking, but he was [I]there[/I]. And he looked human, too.  
  
Their gazes locked for that one brief moment, and in that instant, Liz was sure she was wrong, that everything would work out somehow. Because, of [I]course[/I], it was Max. She was just confused, upset. That was why the connection was so screwy.  
  
He looked away, glanced at Tess, and seemed to relax slightly.  
  
Liz's mouth dropped and, then, tears filled her eyes. She couldn't help it. Because it had suddenly dawned on her exactly what was wrong.  
  
Glancing down at her simple gown, and her still bare feet, she realized that he didn't realize she was Rowena, the princess. He recognized Tess, in her more sumptuous attire - and she [I]was[/I] dressed more regally, Liz noted for the first time - as being his royal welcome to the palace. In fact, if he was seeing Tess as Tess was seeing [I]Liz[/I] - as a small, grey alien - then there was no question he'd think she was Rowena.  
  
Zan was not supposed to know there were two of them. Not at this point in history. It was obvious that this was indeed true, as his eyes shifted from Tess, the more clearly royal of the two of them, to Liz, who was dressed simply, but was, Liz realized, likely identical to Tess, in Zan's eyes.  
  
She recognized the mild interest on his face, as well as the surprise. After all, this was [I]Max[/I]. She knew him. She knew exactly what he was thinking, just from the expression on his face. He had not known there were two of them until this instant.  
  
But, if he didn't know about Serena, it was clear that he didn't have Max's memories. In fact, it meant that, in spite of how he [I]looked[/I], he wasn't Max.  
  
And, if he wasn't Max, that meant that he did not know [I]her[/I], Liz, at all.  
  
To be continued... 


	49. Chapter 49

[u]Part 49[/u]  
  
"What's the matter?" Tess whispered, sounding worried. "Liz, it's [I]him[/I]! What's wrong with you?"  
  
He was wearing a long, greyish robe, and he looked exhausted as he followed the guards off the ship. To the naked eye, Tess was right. It was most certainly Max. Every thing about him looked exactly as it had when Liz had last laid eyes on him in the granolith chamber. And, yet, as he walked toward them, Liz knew that he was not the same.  
  
She could not feel him at all. As he approached, it was even more obvious that he had absolutely no idea who she was, unless he was the universe's best actor. But Max had never been able to fool her. His feelings and thoughts had always been as clear to her as her own. And he couldn't fake a lack of connection. It was, quite simply, impossible for him to shut her out that completely.  
  
It was not him.  
  
"Tess, it's not him," Liz managed to mutter back before he was within ear- shot. She raised her hands, rubbed viciously at her eyes. She was not going to cry! She refused. Until she understood exactly what was happening here, she would not give in to despair. There had to be some sort of logical explanation for why she and Tess both remembered their human lives on Earth, while Max didn't. She would figure it out. She [I]had[/I] to figure it out.  
  
"Should we curtsy?" Tess whispered urgently. Max - Liz could not think of him as anything but Max, even if he presently [I]wasn't[/I] - obviously heard her, because he smiled slightly.  
  
"There is no need," he said firmly, as he stopped in front of Tess. "I am your guest here."  
  
"Not [I]my[/I] guest," Tess replied quickly, obviously finally understanding that Max thought she was the princess. "I'm not Rowena, your highness."  
  
Max raised an eyebrow, glanced at Liz. "Forgive my confusion." He trailed off meaningfully, obviously waiting for an explanation as to why there was two of them.  
  
"I am Rowena," Liz said quietly. She met his eyes directly, searching desperately for some sign that Max was in there somewhere. "This is my sister, Serena," she added, when she realized that he was starting to shift uncomfortably under her penetrating stare.  
  
[I]Great. You're making a wonderful first impression, Liz,[/I] she reprimanded herself sarcastically. [I]He's sure going to fall in love with you this time.[/I]  
  
"I wasn't aware that King Raynor had two daughters," Max replied.  
  
Liz glanced at Tess, who looked as perplexed as she felt as to how to explain Serena's existence. It suddenly dawned on her that it was entirely unlikely that Rowena would have met Zan with Serena present last time. They were changing things already! She felt a knot starting to form in her stomach. It was going to become a permanent ulcer fairly rapidly if she didn't start to get control of this situation.  
  
"He doesn't," Liz told him. "It's a long story."  
  
"One I hope I'm going to hear," Max replied, beginning to sound a bit suspicious. Liz didn't blame him. She had the feeling that the crown prince wasn't going to be too happy to hear that one of his subjects was going around cloning herself. Liz was aware of how inherently dangerous the technology Rowena and Serena had perfected could be in the wrong hands. In fact, she knew all too well. It [I]had[/I] ended up falling into the control of the enemy. The planet upon which she was presently existing had been destroyed because of it.  
  
Maybe [I]this[/I] was what the granolith wanted, Liz reflected hopefully. Maybe by simply clueing Zan into the fact that cloning existed in his system, they would change everything. He wouldn't allow the shapeshifters to clone him, would he? It seemed unlikely. Wasn't it possible that the first time around, Zan hadn't known about the cloning process until it was too late? Until he'd already been cloned?  
  
This could be a good thing. Of course, it could also mean that she and Tess had just somehow completely altered history in a way that meant they were never going to be able to go back to Earth. But, really, in the end, there was no longer any point in worrying about that. They could not recreate everything that had happened last time. It was impossible, because Rowena and Serena were different people this time around, simply because they were really Liz and Tess. Even if Liz [I]knew[/I] exactly how this was all supposed to go, there was no way they wouldn't make mistakes. Nor could they allow it to be the same anyway.  
  
They could not let the Antarian system fall into civil war again. It was wrong. Which meant they had to play this out and see where they were left when the game was done. Every move they made was going to change things. There was no stopping that now.  
  
Liz could see that Max was waiting for an answer. She was saved from having to reply immediately, however, because she became aware of her shapeshifting bodyguard, Yorvin, standing just beyond Max. He was staring at her, a slightly annoyed expression on his face. She realized that protocol probably didn't approve of the crown prince of Antar standing around on a landing tarmac conversing with a barefoot princess.  
  
"All in good time, your highness," Liz said, hoping she sounded more confident then she felt. "You must be tired after your journey. I know that the summit was not a relaxing time. Might I suggest that Yorvin show you to your rooms? Serena and I would be pleased to receive you for breakfast in the." Abruptly, Liz drew a blank. Where on Earth - or Valonia actually - would Rowena be likely to invite Zan to meet them?  
  
"In the conservatory," Tess inserted smoothly. Liz looked at her, surprised. "It's lovely," her sister added.  
  
"Right," Liz agreed, a little too profusely, hoping that Tess knew what the heck she was talking about.  
  
Max was staring at her, Liz, his expression mildly amused. "Very well," he finally said, apparently willing to leave them. Liz didn't blame him. He probably thought they were both nuts.  
  
"This way, your highness," Yorvin urged, leading Max away. One of Zan's guards followed him, but the rest returned to the shuttle.  
  
Liz was astounded that it was a relief to see the back of him. She was actually relieved that Max was gone! It was enough to make her want to burst into tears again.  
  
"Well, that went well," Tess finally said, after they had stood in silence for several long moments.  
  
"Please tell me you're kidding," Liz snapped. "It was a disaster!"  
  
"Liz, it wasn't [I]that[/I] bad," Tess insisted, as they started to walk back towards Rowena's rooms. "He's here. That's what's important."  
  
"Tess, I'm telling you, that was not Max," Liz replied. "I don't see how this situation can possibly be interpreted as anything but a complete fiasco!"  
  
"We'll figure it out, Liz," Tess soothed, reaching out and putting an arm around her shoulders. "There's got to be an explanation."  
  
"I've already [I]thought[/I] of an explanation," Liz said glumly. "I just don't like it." It wasn't until the words came out of her mouth that Liz realized she had. Her heart had been trying to ignore what her mind had already figured out, because it wasn't going to be able to handle what she knew she was going to have to do.  
  
"What?" Tess demanded. "Spill!"  
  
"It's so obvious," Liz sighed. "And I really just can't believe that I have to do this [I]again,[/I] but it's the only thing that makes any sense."  
  
"Liz, [I]what?[/I]"  
  
"Tess, last time Rowena and Zan fell in love and it complicated [I]everything,[/I]" Liz explained quietly. "I have a feeling that we've already changed things to a degree where the entire war might be avoided."  
  
"How so?" Tess asked. "And isn't that a [I]good[/I] thing?"  
  
"I don't think Zan met Serena right away last time," Liz replied. "It just makes sense that he didn't. He was cloned secretly by the shapeshifters, so that he could be replaced and become their puppet. I just can't see him agreeing to that. It was too dangerous. I think the fact that he met us together this time is a turning point. Things can be completely different from now on."  
  
"Okay," Tess said, still sounding confused. "But I still don't understand why Max doesn't remember us."  
  
"Don't you get it?" Liz asked tonelessly, not understanding how she could possibly sound so normal. She realized that she was becoming numb. She quite simply could not emotionally deal with the fact that she was going to be forced to give him up again, and, so, her heart was freezing over to protect itself. "He [I]can't[/I] remember. Because if he remembers, things won't change the way they need to change."  
  
"What do you mean?" Tess was beginning to sound frightened.  
  
"Tess, Rowena has to marry Khivar," Liz explained patiently. "It's the only way to avoid the one thing that truly allowed the Wendarians to drive a wedge between Antar and Sardica." She pulled away from Tess, started walking more quickly, her arms wrapped around her middle. "To make sure that Zan doesn't interfere this time around, we have to make sure he doesn't fall in love with Rowena. We have to make him fall in love with someone else."  
  
"Liz." Tess called after her. "Liz, stop! You're not saying what I [I]think[/I] you're saying?"  
  
Liz didn't answer. She could not. But she heard Tess's final wail of disbelief, and knew that her sister finally got it.  
  
"You want him to fall in love with me?"  
  
***  
  
Liz slipped through the double doors that led to the terrace outside Rowena's chamber. She knew she should be in bed, but needless to say, sleep was presently impossible. Her brain would not leave her in peace. And, so, she had come outside in what she knew would likely be a vain attempt to find some solace.  
  
She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves, but ended up wrinkling her nose slightly at the unfamiliar scent that greeted her. Glancing down, she stared at a strange flowering plant, one she had obviously never seen before. Lowering her head, she sniffed again, then took a step back. The disgusting smell, which was obviously supposed to be pleasing to her based on the fact that the flower was on her balcony, only reinforced the absolute strangeness of the fact that she was even on Valonia.  
  
She hated it here. She hated the granolith. She, in fact, at the moment, hated [I]everything.[/I] All she wanted was to go home. She wanted things to go back to the way they had been before they had so stupidly placed their trust in Whittaker and the granolith.  
  
Plucking the offending bloom off the plant, Liz tossed it over the terrace wall, muttering to herself, "What I wouldn't give for a plain old white rose right about now."  
  
Of course, thinking of white roses made her think of Max serenading her on her balcony, which just made her want to cry again. She had come outside to try and escape the stifling atmosphere of the palace, but the horror of having to relive this whole matchmaking scenario again was really what was suffocating her. She quite simply knew that she could not do it. Not again.  
  
There was no choice though. She didn't know how she [I]knew[/I] that this was why she and Tess had come here with their memories intact, but somehow she did. She [I]knew[/I] that the granolith was giving her a second chance to fix what she had screwed up so royally after Future Max's visit.  
  
The reason she had needed to escape Tess had been simple. While she didn't blame her sister for again proving to be Max's real destiny, she also didn't want to weep and wail in front of her. Tess didn't need to see it, nor did Liz really feel ready to share her pain over what they were going to have to do. Liz was growing to love Tess, but she also knew that Tess, in spite of everything, still had feelings for Max. In the end, Tess would not be unhappy by this turn of events. She would be hard-pressed to hide that from Liz, which she would feel bad about, which, in turn, meant they couldn't discuss it. It just had to be done.  
  
Tess had seemed to understand too, because she had not come after Liz. Liz had been allowed to grieve her impending loss in solitude, and, now, she was finally able to get enough of a grip on herself to move events forward. Because, deep down, all she really wanted was for this to end. She wanted the pain and the despair to be over. And, eventually, if they changed things enough, they would be. She, Liz Parker, would cease to exist, if they did this right.  
  
Finally she was able to understand why Future Max had seemed unafraid of his impending disappearance. For him, it had been a relief.in fact, a release. Because, to him, going on in a world without his Liz in it had not been a life at all. Liz knew that, for her, going on without Max would be the worst kind of hell. She had tried it once, and it had been impossible. She was a strong person, but, in the end, this was too much. She could not live through the pain of knowing that she was going to be alone forever. Not again.  
  
The worst part of all was that, deep inside, Liz knew that she didn't want to fade away. She did not want to cease to exist. But, if they did what they were supposed to, she would. But, if she didn't, she was the worst kind of coward, completely selfish, and unlikely to have what she wanted anyway, since Max didn't even know who she was, obviously felt no connection to her, and might very well think she was insane, based on the way he had looked at her earlier.  
  
"Could this entire situation suck more?" she demanded aloud, glaring up at the stars shining down on her. "I'm tired of [I]you[/I] too! Go away! Why can't everyone just leave me alone!" Stupid stars. Stupid destiny. Stupid conscience. Stupid alien stupidity!  
  
"I'm intruding."  
  
Liz jumped, whirled. Max - no, Liz quickly amended, it was Zan. She had to remember that this was [I]not[/I] Max - was standing on the far side of the terrace, a concerned expression on his face. He was holding the flower she had just thrown over the balcony in his hand. She took an involuntary step forward, so surprised - and so happy - to see him, she just about threw herself into his arms before she realized what she was doing.  
  
"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to the stars," she said quickly, when he made a move to go back down the staircase he had obviously just come up. The one she hadn't noticed. The irony of the entire situation was that, in spite of the fact that she had just screamed at the heavens for everyone to leave her alone, the one person she really wanted to see - Max - had suddenly joined her. Not that it was him. He didn't even know who she was. It was almost as if the fates were combining to drive her stark- raving mad.  
  
"You were talking to the [I]stars[/I]?" Zan asked, sounding surprised. And not a little afraid, Liz reflected, suddenly wanting to laugh at the absurdity of this situation. If the fates were trying to drive her insane, Zan seemed to think she was already there.  
  
"Never mind. Were you in the garden?" she asked, deciding to change the subject. She cringed slightly when she heard the weariness in her voice. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you."  
  
"You didn't," Zan replied. "I was actually doing a little stargazing myself," he admitted. "Although with a little less annoyance at the stars. We don't see them often on Antar. I don't know them well enough to dislike them."  
  
Liz felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. He apparently wasn't going to let this drop. Sighing, she asked, "You don't see them on Antar?"  
  
"Too polluted," Zan explained, moving forward slightly, so that he could lean on the terrace's ledge. Liz eyes were drawn to the way his long fingers were still playing with the bloom he held. She could feel her body starting to heat up, and not because she was embarrassed this time. He might not remember her, but this was still Max, and her entire soul knew it.  
  
For one brief moment, she wondered what he would do if she just threw herself at him. He already thought she was crazy. What did she have to lose?  
  
But, he was no longer hers. It was Tess who was supposed to be out here with him.  
  
Liz realized that he was looking at her strangely. She hadn't answered him. "Oh. That's too bad. I've never been to Antar," she added, hoping it was true of Rowena. "I'd like to go someday."  
  
"Really?" Zan sounded surprised.  
  
"You don't believe me?" Liz demanded.  
  
"Well, I've been told that you don't like to leave Valonia," Zan replied. "That it's why you haven't yet married Khivar."  
  
Liz stared at him. He sounded questioning, but more than that. He sounded knowing. He was getting personal pretty quickly, considering they had supposedly only met once before today. Meeting his eyes, she saw that his were slightly narrowed, as he waited for her reply. She recognized Max's pensive expression, knew that he was trying to understand something about her - about Rowena, she realized. It was like he already knew something and she couldn't figure out what it was. The tone of his voice implied that he thought she wouldn't marry Khivar for another reason. Why?  
  
"Who told you that?" she asked carefully.  
  
"I know your future sister-in-law, Karana, very well," Zan replied. "She seems sure that your marriage will never take place because you won't leave this planet, and Khivar will not leave his own. I've now met Khivar. I think Karana is right." But, yet again, Liz could hear in his voice that he was really asking about something else entirely. What was he getting at? This wasn't about Khivar at all. It reminded her of the conversations she used to have with Max about Kyle - the ones where they had both known darn well that they were just skirting around the issue of what they really meant to each other.  
  
"Why do you care?" Liz inquired uncertainly. She wondered if this conversation had happened in their past lives, or if it was entirely new this time around. Because what exactly was Zan trying to find out here?  
  
There was a long pause, their eyes locked together, as they each tried to read the other. Liz could tell he was doing it, because after all, she knew him. He just didn't know her.  
  
She was absolutely shocked, when he abruptly grinned at her. "Actually, if you really want to know the truth, I don't care. Not a single bit."  
  
"What?" Liz demanded. "Then why are you asking?"  
  
"I have a feeling that I'm asking for the same reason that you agreed to your betrothal to Khivar," Zan answered, sounding amused, although slightly wary as well. "To get my father off my back. He's exhausting. Since I saw you here, I thought I'd find out something fairly insignificant for him, so that he'd leave me alone for a while."  
  
Liz stared at him, unsure how to respond to this. She knew, somehow, that he was not telling her the truth. This was not about his father at all. He was trying to find out something else entirely. It was about Khivar, and, yet, somehow, she knew it wasn't.  
  
She couldn't admit that she didn't want to marry Khivar. He needed to think it, needed to know that she was unavailable. She decided that the opportunity to glean some information of her own was too good to pass up however. "Well, you likely know something about unwanted betrothals," she responded.  
  
He blinked. "I do?"  
  
"Ava?" Liz suggested.  
  
Zan stared at her. "Ava?" he repeated, sounding confused.  
  
"The sister of the king of Knosis?" Liz replied impatiently. "Your fiancée?"  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Zan replied, his expression changing slightly. His "this woman is crazy" face was back.  
  
Liz wrinkled her brow. "You're not engaged to Ava this time?"  
  
Instantly, she could have kicked herself for the mistake. He was starting to wear a matching frown now. "[I]This[/I] time?"  
  
"[I]At[/I] this time," Liz amended lamely, internally rolling her eyes at her own stupidity.  
  
"Since I don't even know who this Ava is, my betrothal to her seems unlikely," Zan finally said, still sounding a bit suspicious.  
  
Liz didn't quite know what to make of that answer. "Are you saying the king of Knosis doesn't have a sister?"  
  
"Are you saying you think he does?" Zan shot back. "Of course, it is possible. Apparently you have a sister of which I've never heard as well. But I'm fairly certain that I'm not engaged to either of these mystery siblings."  
  
Liz barely heard him though. Her mind was racing. Was he serious? Could it be true that Ava did not exist in this reality? And, if she didn't, what did it mean?  
  
It did not take her long to understand what was likely going on. Somehow, the granolith must have adjusted this world for the fact that the Tess who was here was a combined version of Serena and Ava. Because of this fact, both Ava and Serena needed to disappear for Tess to be able to exist. It was like what Future Max had told Liz about being unable to meet his younger self. If Tess had run into either Serena or Ava, it would have been disastrous. And, so, they were both gone.  
  
It could not have been luck that Tess ended up in Serena's role here, and not Ava's. Zan had never been interested in Ava, but he had fallen in love with Rowena. It had to be a simple matter to make him fall in love with Rowena's clone. The granolith had given Tess a better chance this time around.  
  
She needed to find Tess, and fast. This only reinforced that Zan and Serena were truly meant for each other. She had to make sure her sister understood how important it was that this work out.  
  
"My lady?"  
  
She jumped slightly, focused on Zan again, who had moved closer to her while she'd been thinking. Liz almost couldn't believe that, for a moment, she had completely forgotten his presence. Staring at him, her heart finally caught up with her mind. It was incomprehensible to her that it still had the capability to shatter a little more each time it acknowledged that she could not be with Max. Shouldn't it have finished breaking by now? Was she destined to always be in pain like this? What had happened to the numbness?  
  
"I." Liz could hear her voice trembling, saw that he heard it too.  
  
"Rowena, what is wrong?" he asked quietly. "I can see that something is different. Can't you tell me?"  
  
"I wish I could," she whispered. She jumped slightly when she felt his hand brush her cheek. She looked up at him, for one heart-stopping moment absolutely certain that it was Max touching her. Had he remembered? Was he finally here with her?  
  
But, meeting his eyes, she knew that it wasn't him. She could see the curiousity, the kindness, in his dark gaze, but nothing more than that. There was no recognition.  
  
It was then that she realized that it wasn't entirely true. She could see that he wasn't seeing her as Liz, but there was something in his eyes that was no ambivalent, that was somehow more knowing than she had seen there yet. She could see his vulnerability in that instant. He was expecting something from her, something she didn't understand.  
  
What was going on here?  
  
"Why can't you?"  
  
"I need to talk to my sister," Liz replied, stepping back, and away from him, barely able to refrain from moving closer. She knew she should leave, knew that she should go in search of Tess, but she could not leave him. Not yet.  
  
"You are different from what I remember of you," Zan finally said, after a long silence.  
  
"How so?" Liz asked, curious in spite of herself. "We've barely met before."  
  
"You made an impression," he said, looking slightly embarrassed, but he seemed determined to press on. "And I remembered you. I thought that your invitation here meant that you remembered me, too."  
  
Liz stared at him. "Really?" Her mind was trying to understand. Had something happened between Zan and Rowena at their first meeting? Even with Khivar present? What was he getting at? "Then.why." She trailed off, uncertain of how to ask him about his cool greeting of her earlier.  
  
"Your sister informed me that you thought that I did not know you," Zan told her. "I am sorry if it seemed that way. I was merely surprised to see two of you. Once I laid eyes on you again, I knew the difference. You seem.changed though. I do not understand it, Rowena."  
  
Liz pressed her lips together, hoping he would continue. She needed to figure out what was going on here. Exactly what had transpired between Zan and Rowena at the summit before she had departed?  
  
"Was it.Is it because you think I am engaged to this Ava?" Zan asked. "I've never even heard of her before."  
  
"I don't know what to tell you," she finally said, when it seemed he was waiting for an answer.  
  
"Why not the truth?" Zan replied, beginning to sound a bit exasperated. "What is going on here? Who is that other woman?"  
  
"My sister," Liz whispered.  
  
"I don't believe it," Zan snapped. "Who is she really? Why have you brought me here? Was everything that happened in Valnor a ruse to lure me here?"  
  
A lump was beginning to rise in Liz's throat at the suspicion that was beginning to rise in Zan's voice. "No," she answered quickly. "I wanted you to come."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"So I could help you," she said.  
  
"How?" Zan demanded.  
  
"I.I can't tell you," Liz almost wailed. "It will ruin everything!" She was so weak! Max had managed to break down her defenses in order to get her to tell him about Future Max in the space of a week. And, now, he was managing to do it again, this time as Zan, and in even less time. Why couldn't she tell him? He didn't love her - not yet. He could pursue Tess if he knew he had to in order to avoid civil war. This time he wouldn't have feelings in the way. He would listen to her!  
  
"Was it you who invited me?" Max asked abruptly. Liz looked up at him, startled. "Maybe [I]she[/I] wanted me here. If there are two of you, how can I possibly know the difference?"  
  
"I don't know!"  
  
"But I do. Somehow I do. You are the one."  
  
Liz felt her heart start to beat more quickly. His eyes would not leave her face. And, suddenly, she knew that it was already too late. He was already in love with Rowena. "I [I]know[/I] that you are the one who drew me here," he continued. "You are the one Rath introduced me to. You are the one I came to see."  
  
"How?" she whispered. "How do you know it?"  
  
Zan stepped forward, brought his hands up gently so that they cupped her face. "I've always known you," he said quietly. "From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were the one for me. I was confused when I first came here. How could I not be? There are two of you. But not anymore. I know who you are. You are the one, Rowena."  
  
His head lowered, his eyes on her lips, helping her to be perfectly aware of what he was about to do. Her mind was screaming at her to pull away, to deny that she was the person he remembered. He would believe her if she convinced him it was Serena he'd met. He had to! She could do it! It was why she was here!  
  
But her heart was, as usual, completely uncooperative. Before she could do anything, he was kissing her, and there was absolutely no way she could possibly pull away.  
  
Her heart would not let her stop him. It was arguing against every moral bone in her body. It knew that what was going to happen could not be avoided. He was hers. He always had been, he always would be, and, because of it, every world upon which they loved each other would be destroyed. 


	50. Chapter 50

[u]Part 50[/u]  
  
For one long moment, Liz allowed herself to feel the pure love that ran through her entire being whenever Max kissed her. She knew that this would be the last time, and she could not resist the sensation of her soul reaching out for his, knowing that its mate was within reach. She let herself stop thinking, let herself simply enjoy it.  
  
But, when his lips left hers and started to trace a delicate path across her cheek, to her ear, then down her neck, she heard him whisper her name. Well, not [I]her[/I] name. Had he whispered her real name, she probably would not have snapped back to reality.  
  
"Rowena."  
  
Everything stopped in that instant. She remembered where she was, why this was wrong, and what she had to do. In the end, her brain won out over her heart, because there was no other choice.  
  
Liz wrenched away from Max. She could no longer think of him as Zan. Not after what had just happened. Because, to her, this [I]was[/I] Max. He would always be Max, no matter who he thought he was. Whatever his name, whatever the planet, he was the one for her. He always had been, he always would be, and everyone they cared about would die because they could not stay away from each other.  
  
Her heart was destined to be broken no matter which path she took, and the truth of it was suddenly too much. If she followed her heart's true wishes, and let Rowena be with Zan, then their family and friends would die - certainly in this lifetime, and very likely in the next one too, even if the event was still fourteen years in the future. If she didn't listen to her heart, then she would be lonely for the rest of her life. Future Max had told her that the future was unknown, that she might not end up alone, but she knew this was untrue. Because, if she couldn't have Max, there was no question of there being anyone else. She didn't [I]want[/I] anyone else.  
  
Liz felt wrenching sobs begin to take hold of her body. She could no longer hold in the pain of it. How could something that had felt right, from the first moment he had ever touched her, be so wrong? How could two people be allowed to feel so much, when they were not meant to be, but were, in fact, doomed from the start? It just wasn't fair.  
  
"Rowena?" He sounded tentative. She felt his hand on her shoulder, could hear the concern and confusion in his voice. She could sense that he wanted to comfort her, wanted to let him more than anything. But it could not be. And, for the first time, she truly understood what she had to do.  
  
She had to tell him everything. Unless she did, he would continue to pursue her, would follow his heart, would not stop until she gave in again. Because wasn't that exactly what had happened last time? Future Max had insisted that his younger version could not be trusted to make the right decisions, that [I]she[/I] was the one who had to do it all alone. But Future Max had been wrong. The only way to break their bond irrevocably was for them to both know that it was necessary.  
  
Liz trusted Zan - no, she trusted [I]Max[/I], her soulmate, hidden inside this stranger - to do the right thing. That future version of Max may not have trusted himself, but [I]she[/I] trusted him. He had never failed her before. He would not fail her now.  
  
There was no other way.  
  
Liz forced herself to take deep breaths, managed to slow her tears through sheer force of will. She realized that she had fallen to her knees during her momentary breakdown, and that Zan was kneeling beside her. His arm was around her, and her cheek was resting against the warmth of his neck. Closing her eyes briefly, she breathed him in for the last time, and then pulled away.  
  
She could feel his eyes on her as she stood, but she did not meet his gaze. She made herself start to talk before she could change her mind again. "I'm not Rowena."  
  
"What?"  
  
Turning her head, Liz could see that he was still kneeling, and was staring up at her, looking so perplexed, it made her heart lurch. It reminded her of the time she had deliberately turned away from Max in the pod chamber, when they had first learned of his destiny. As she watched him, his expression changed to that of a man having his entire world taken away from him without any warning, and without any remorse.  
  
She continued mercilessly. There was no choice. "I am not Rowena."  
  
"I know you are," he said, frowning slightly. "I know [I]you[/I]."  
  
"You don't," she replied without hesitation. "You don't know anything about me."  
  
"I know what I feel," he insisted, finally climbing to his feet, much to Liz's relief. She didn't think she could have taken much more of that lost puppy dog expression. Now he was beginning to look angry, which would make this easier.  
  
"What you feel for me is destructive," Liz told him. "You can't love me. If you do, this entire system will end up in chaos. It will begin with the devastation of the planet on which we're standing, and it will end with the annihilation of a planet far away from here. Our home and everyone we love in two separate lifetimes will suffer and die because of us. " Her voice cracked slightly, but she forced herself to raise her chin, made herself go on. "And I will not be responsible for it. I will not make [I]you[/I] responsible for it. Not again."  
  
Liz raised her gaze to his. The eyes that she loved so well were staring at her, concern still visible, but dawning horror becoming clear to her as well. "What are you talking about?" he whispered, sounding afraid.  
  
She pressed her lips together, uncertainty running through her. Was this really the right thing? Was she really supposed to mess with the timeline so extremely?  
  
But, in the end, she could see no other answer. The granolith had sent her here for a reason. It had to be to change things. And she now knew that the only way to really change everything was to have Max on her side from the beginning. Because, most ironically of all, they had always worked better together.  
  
She would tell him, and they would work together to make sure that they stayed apart. And, because of it, while she would lose him, she would no longer be so alone.  
  
***  
  
They were sitting on the ledge of the balcony, side-by-side, not looking at each other, certainly not touching, and she was no longer talking.  
  
They sat in silence for a long time after Liz finished speaking. She could hear Zan breathing heavily, knew that he was still trying to absorb everything she had revealed. It had taken a long time to tell it all, but she had not stopped, had not allowed him to ask questions, had just [I]told[/I] him. And, now, she was pretty sure he was about to tell her that she was stark-raving mad. Which was fine. Because, in some ways, she was pretty sure that she was.  
  
Finally, when she could handle it no longer, she asked tentatively, "Do you believe me?"  
  
Zan let out his breath in a great woosh, as though he had been holding it. She glanced at him, could see that he was staring straight ahead, no expression on his face. "I don't know," he admitted eventually. "It sounds crazy."  
  
"And you barely know me, so I could be crazy," Liz agreed.  
  
"I know you're not crazy," Zan replied quickly. "I know you, Rowena." He paused, then modified. "I know you, [I]Liz[/I]."  
  
She felt her heart skip a beat, when his dark eyes met hers. "So you do believe me?"  
  
"I don't think you're crazy, so I guess I do," Zan replied simply. He looked away, his brow furrowed. "I suppose the fact that we've technically only met once before, and, yet, I feel like I've known you forever, has helped me to believe you. What I don't understand is why you seemed to think that keeping this secret was a good idea. I mean, it clearly hasn't been, up to this point."  
  
"Which is why I told you, I guess," Liz replied. "Because you're right. So, you'll help me?"  
  
He looked at her strangely. "Of course."  
  
She felt an overwhelming sense of relief, and couldn't stop herself from reaching out and hugging him. "Thank you." She pulled back immediately, though, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. This is going to be harder than I thought."  
  
"You're not kidding," Zan said. He took her hands in his. "Which is why we're going to forgo this whole stupid "we can't be together" angle."  
  
Liz stared at him, quickly pulling her hands from his grasp. "What?" She stood, her relief quickly replaced by annoyance. "You said you were going to help me!"  
  
"Did it work before?" Zan asked, far too archly for Liz's taste, mainly because he was right.  
  
"That is [I]not[/I] the point."  
  
Zan just looked at her, not replying. Finally he said quietly, "Do you not want to be with your Max?"  
  
Liz stared at him, her mouth falling open slightly. The question so surprised her, she couldn't even formulate a response. Because, of [I]course[/I] she did. Which part of her story had made him even question that for a moment?  
  
"Because based on what you just told me, that does seem to be your first answer, whenever something bad happens," Zan continued, sounding a little hurt now. "To break it off."  
  
"That's not true!" Liz exclaimed. "It's the last thing I want to do - ever." But his words hit too close to home. She felt a pang of guilt, remembering that it had indeed been the first conclusion she had jumped to upon arriving here and learning that they could still change the Antarian system's future. Even Tess had seemed shocked by how quickly she had reached the decision that she and Max could not be together.  
  
Why did she do that?  
  
"What is it that makes you feel that you are not worthy to be with Max?" Zan asked, understanding her thoughts so completely, it made her start. But, then, in almost every way that counted, this was [I]Max[/I]. He might not remember being her boyfriend, but he was. The fact that he knew her so well, already, more than proved it.  
  
"I don't know," she whispered.  
  
"Is it because you truly blame yourself for the destruction others wreak because they are jealous?" Zan suggested. "Isn't that a bit arrogant, Liz? Because, even in if you want to, you can't control what others do. And you can't make yourself stop loving him just because someone wants you to." He smiled slightly. "Just like I cannot make myself stop loving Rowena, even though I barely know her."  
  
Liz bit her lip. "Do you miss her?"  
  
"She is with me," Zan replied. "You and she are the same."  
  
"Why do you love her? If you barely know her, how can you be sure?"  
  
He sighed. "I can't explain it. It was just something I knew when I saw her. She was meant for me."  
  
"But [I]why?[/I]" Liz demanded. "Why are we so lucky?"  
  
Zan tilted his head, examined her face for a long moment. "Is that it?" he finally asked. "Do you feel that what you feel must be uncertain, and that you are unworthy of it, because it is too easy? That it can't be true because you didn't have to work for it?"  
  
"He loved me from the first moment he laid eyes on me," Liz said quietly, remembering how she had felt when Max first connected with her, when he had first shown her how he felt, way back after the shooting in the Crashdown. It was what had made her fall in love with him, after all. The way he felt about [I]her[/I] had opened her eyes to how wonderful he was, too.  
  
Maybe that was why she felt unworthy, Liz reflected. Because she was beginning to realize that Zan was right. The reason she was constantly able to believe that she and Max were not meant to be together was because she didn't feel that she deserved him. The irony that she remembered telling Max, not twenty-four hours ago on their world, that he didn't have the exclusive right to worry about her because he had loved her longer, did not escape her. But, maybe, deep down, she had questioned her own right to that love. Because, after all, what had she [I]done[/I] to earn it?  
  
"You don't have to do anything, Liz," Zan said. She looked up, realized that he was holding her hands in his again. She knew that he was practically reading her thoughts too, because Max had always been able to read her face. "It's just what is. You can't [I]make[/I] someone love you. They do or they don't. You also can't make someone [I]not[/I] love you. You can do a lot of destructive things to try, but if they really love you, they're not going to stop, whatever you do."  
  
"I wish you remembered being Max," Liz said, feeling tears fill her eyes. "I miss him."  
  
"Then we need to get you back to him," Zan replied simply. "Because, I must admit, I would like the chance to be with my Rowena, too. And, so that we can both have what we want, perhaps we can figure out a way to ensure that what you think is going to happen here, doesn't happen, without resorting to extremes? How does that sound?"  
  
He gently cupped her face, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears. Liz felt a lump enter her throat. He wasn't Max, and, yet, he was so like him, it was confusing. All she really wanted was for him to kiss her, but it also felt like a betrayal of the one she had left behind.  
  
"It sounds wonderful," Liz admitted.  
  
He lowered his head, so that their foreheads were touching. "Good."  
  
She couldn't help herself. Tilting her head slightly, so that their lips were a mere breath apart, what happened next was unavoidable. "Max," she whispered.  
  
Moments later, he was kissing her. Her hands came up, wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.  
  
And, for the first time since she had realized where she was, Liz felt hope. They [I]could[/I] change this for the better. She knew it. As long as they worked together, they could do anything. He was right. The way they felt could not be wrong.  
  
As the thought crossed her mind, Liz felt something shift within her. It was as though a door that had been closed into her soul flew open and, pulling back, she met Zan's eyes. And, somehow, she knew that it was not Zan anymore.  
  
"Max?"  
  
He smiled at her, the recognition on his face unmistakable. "Liz."  
  
She smiled, too, her joy so complete, she wondered how she could have ever believed that she could live without this feeling. "I love you. I want you. I'm not giving you up again."  
  
"Good," he replied. "Not that I ever doubted it. I knew you'd remember." He kissed her again.  
  
"Is that why we're here?" Liz asked, after several moments. She laid her head on his shoulder, the fingers of her right hand playing with the hair near his ear. "Is this what the granolith is trying to teach us?"  
  
"Maybe," he replied. "But I do think we're here to change things, too."  
  
"Starting with ourselves," Liz said. "Have you been here the whole time?"  
  
"Kind of," he said. "I can't really explain it. I was here, but I wasn't in control."  
  
Liz pulled back, sighing. "So, I guess I was the one with the lesson to learn."  
  
"Well, maybe," he conceded. "But you taught me mine, don't forget. That sometimes thinking we're being selfless means that we're being selfish. Because if you'd really decided to give me up, I would not have survived it again, Liz."  
  
"I know," Liz replied. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Just don't do it again." Max kissed her on the forehead. "Please." She could feel him trembling slightly under her, being as she was presently sitting on his lap, and it made her guilt even more pronounced. How awful must it have been for Max, to hear her tell him that they couldn't be together, and to be unable to do anything to stop her? But, then, in the end, there had been no real danger. Because, hadn't Zan, with his measured and convincing arguments, more than proven that he and Max were indeed the same person? Wasn't it why she had always been made to see that giving him up was always the wrong choice?  
  
It made Liz shiver slightly, reflecting on how absolutely awful the world Future Max had left must have been. Because the Max she knew would never have decided that breaking them up would make the world - any world - a better place. They had to do everything in their power to make sure that Future Max's world - a world that could so change [I]any[/I] Max - never happened.  
  
"I won't," Liz said firmly. "I promise." She hugged him tightly.  
  
She was perfectly content to sit there forever, wrapped in Max's arms, but they were both jolted back to awareness by a loud blasting noise. In fact, it sounded very much like the engines of an airplane being ignited. Max and Liz both turned their heads in the direction from which it had come. Liz felt her eyes widen as she watched a small spaceship lift into the air from below them. It turned slowly, then picked up speed as it started its ascent into the atmosphere.  
  
"We really are on another planet, aren't we?" she whispered. "I will never get used to that."  
  
"Don't," Max replied grimly. "Because we're going home as soon as we get things straightened out here."  
  
She looked back at him, studied his face. "Don't you want to stay here?" she asked tentatively. "Even a little? It's your home."  
  
"Liz, it's not my home," Max told her. "Where you are is where I want to be, and I know that you don't want to be here. Earth is my home. Zan and Rowena belong here. We don't. The sooner we're done what we have to do, the better."  
  
Liz smiled at him. "Well, then let's get started. You need to call a summit again. We need to get all the major players in one place and expose the shapeshifters."  
  
"I guess that is the best way to go," Max replied. "Although I'm still not entirely sure that I'm going to trust Khivar." Liz could tell he was joking though, from the tone of his voice. After all, they had both experienced that connection when they had healed Kate. He knew that much of Will's bad behavior stemmed from his confusion, which had been as great as theirs. The Khivar they encountered here should still be fairly reasonable. He was likely going to be hurt, at first, by the fact that Rowena would not want to marry him, but Liz trusted that he would accept it. Just like she knew that the Zan she had met here had been Max at heart, she could not doubt that Khivar would be Will. She only had to reach him.  
  
Things had to be different this time. Which meant no more lying, and no more secrets. This time they would tell Khivar the truth from the very beginning and they would trust him to deal with it. Sending Serena the last time had been wrong. Pretty much everything they had done last time had played right into the shapeshifters's plan. And the only way to make sure that didn't happen was to be up-front from the get-go.  
  
Max gently set her on her feet, then stood. He looked down, shaking his head. "I'm glad Michael can't see me in this dress."  
  
"It's not a dress, Max," Liz told him. "It's a royal robe."  
  
He frowned. "It is?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"It looks like a dress to me."  
  
Liz tilted her head, examining him. "Well, at least you look like yourself. Tess thinks we both look short and grey." She frowned. "Wait a minute! How do I look to you?"  
  
"Like Liz," Max replied.  
  
"Odd," she said. "I thought that everyone looked human to me because of my gift. I guess not."  
  
Max looked pensive. "That is weird." Finally, he shrugged. "Well, I guess if it's important, it will all make sense eventually."  
  
"We can hope," Liz muttered, although at the rate they were getting answers, she was beginning to doubt it. She reached out and took his hand. "Let's go find Tess. She's going to be thrilled to see you."  
  
"Do you know where you're going?" Max asked, several long minutes later. They were in one of the palace's many long corridors, and Liz was scowling at the tenth door that looked exactly like the one beside it.  
  
"Of course," she snapped, although she could feel a dull flush beginning to rise in her cheeks. It was only now, when she had realized how stupid her decision to give up Max again had been, that she was beginning to understand just how distracting all that selflessness could be. She had been in the Valonian palace for almost two days now and still barely knew her way around. It was a little embarrassing to acknowledge that the last two days might have been better spent getting a bearing on her surroundings.  
  
"Liz." She turned to look at Max. He was watching her, an affectionate expression on his face. "It's okay. We can just ask someone."  
  
"Won't that seem a bit suspicious?" Liz demanded.  
  
"Well, we're not going to get anywhere just wandering around," Max replied. "We look even more suspicious right now."  
  
"Good point," Liz admitted. She smiled. "This is a complete nightmare."  
  
"Not entirely," Max disagreed. He reached out and took her hand, bringing it to his lips. "At least here I can do things like this, in public, without looking totally weird."  
  
"Very romantic," Liz replied, feeling it down to her toes. "And thank you for not letting me become morose."  
  
"If I don't find the humour in it," Max replied, "I might start crying. I don't think that would be very king-like of me."  
  
"Crown Prince-like," Liz corrected.  
  
"Right." He frowned slightly, pulling her back in the direction from which they had just come. "Isn't my father supposed to die fairly soon?"  
  
"I think so," Liz replied, feeling a knot form in her stomach. Max was right that it was a good idea to try and keep the situation light, but she couldn't entirely control her nerves. They were surrounded by enemies here. It was even more frightening because neither of them was supposed to be aware of it at the moment. One mistake and they might give themselves away, and they had no way of knowing how disastrous it might be for the shapeshifters to know that they were on to them. "We are running on a very short clock here," Liz said, her voice low. "Which is why I really, [I]really[/I] want to find Tess. Now."  
  
"Well, then let's just find someone to take us to her," Max suggested. "Because, you're right."  
  
"Your highness?"  
  
Liz felt her heart leap into her throat. She whirled, felt Max doing the same beside her. Yorvin, her bodyguard, was standing several paces behind them. "How long have you been there?" she demanded, before she could stop herself. Because, based on his actions before, he could have been part of the wall for most of the past few hours. Listening, learning the truth about them. She dropped Max's hand quickly, but from the way the shapeshifter's eyes deliberately did not look towards the movement, she knew that he had seen anyway.  
  
Yorvin also didn't answer her question, which only confirmed to Liz that he had heard too much. How stupid could they be, talking openly about things that no one but the two of them should know about? But Yorvin's expression remained impassive as he said, "I have a message from your sister."  
  
"We were just searching for Serena," Max replied smoothly. "Where is she? She's not in her chamber."  
  
"No," Yorvin agreed. "I'm afraid I have some bad news, your highness." He looked at Liz again, in a way that made her heart start to thump more quickly. Had something happened to Tess?  
  
"What?" she whispered. "Is she all right?"  
  
"I would assume so," Yorvin replied. "She was when she left the planet twenty minutes ago. That was the message I was to pass on."  
  
"She left?" Liz asked, dumbfounded. "Why?"  
  
Yorvin shrugged. "She said that you would know why."  
  
Liz turned her head, met Max's eyes. He looked as perplexed as she felt. Why would Tess [I]leave[/I]? It made no sense.  
  
"Where did she go?" Liz demanded again, more urgently this time.  
  
"Her coordinates were set for Sardica," Yorvin replied. He was beginning to look mildly worried, but when Liz stared at him, she could tell it was an act. He knew far more than he was acknowledging.  
  
And, abruptly, Liz understood. It all became so clear, she couldn't believe she had never realized it before. "Oh my God." She turned back to Max. "We're too late. It's all started."  
  
"What? What's wrong?" Max asked, clearly still not understanding.  
  
Liz glanced at Yorvin, knew that it was too late to continue to pretend that there wasn't something going on between them. And she didn't particularly care anymore, anyway. Because what Tess had done had screwed everything up to a degree that she wasn't entirely sure they could save the situation. She pulled Max away from the shapeshifter anyway. "She's gone to start things with Khivar," Liz explained in an undertone. "I told her that I was going to make you get together with her, and she's taken matters into her own hands, to make sure I don't have the chance."  
  
"Are you sure?" Max demanded, obviously grasping the severity of the situation instantly.  
  
"I'm sure she thought she was helping," Liz nodded, feeling helpless. "This is all my fault. How stupid could I be not to realize that she was going to do something like this?"  
  
"How could you know?"  
  
"She's [I]me[/I], Max. She's my sister, she's still Tess, but in a lot of ways, we think exactly the same. I never would have let [I]her[/I] give you up for me, and she's doing the same thing. She knows how I feel about you, now even more clearly because of the connection. She's not going to allow it. And, now, because we're both so completely predictable, we've set everything in motion again."  
  
"If that's true, then we're not safe here anymore. They're going to send the clone Zan out there. As far as I know, they still don't have my DNA, but we can't let them get it." Max's tone was firm. "We're leaving. Tonight."  
  
Liz glanced over her shoulder at Yorvin, who was watching them, but was making no effort to try to listen. It creeped her out even more than any blatant eavesdropping would have. Because it seemed that the shapeshifters didn't even feel the need to know what they were thinking, or saying. To them, both Zan and Rowena were so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, any connection they may have established was only one more step towards victory for them.  
  
Which could only mean one thing. They already had what they needed.  
  
"Max, I think it's too late," Liz whispered. "We need to find that lab. Now."  
  
To be continued. 


	51. Chapter 51

Author's Note: Yes it is true! Finally an update. Thanks for your patience, folks. I hope to have I Am Not Felicity updated soon as well.  
  
[u]Part 51[/u]  
  
"Oh my God."  
  
Max reached out and took Liz's hand. He squeezed it comfortingly, although he was just as horrified as she was. There was no other way to feel, being as they were staring at a pulsing pod in which floated an exact replica of himself.  
  
"Why do you think he looks human?" Liz whispered. "Isn't that kind of weird?"  
  
"What isn't?" Max asked, shaking his head. He looked around nervously. For some reason, they had easily found their way into the lab housing the clone. No one had tried to stop them, nor had they come across anyone in the entire research wing of the palace. Although Yorvin had not followed them when they went in search of the lab, Max suspected that Liz's bodyguard had warned the scientists that they were coming. And, now, here they were, staring at the clone of Zan, which was the key to setting the Wendarians entire plan into motion. This was the duplicate they were going to use to bring down three planets.  
  
Max wondered if the other Zan - the one who had lived before - had found himself in this exact moment. Had he uncovered what the shapeshifters were planning? Were Max and Liz just reliving exactly what had happened to Zan and Rowena before? Had they been in the position of being able to stop the destruction of Valonia and had they failed to do so? It was entirely possible. Because, after all, Max knew exactly what had to be done - knew exactly what the granolith had sent them here to do.  
  
The clone had to be destroyed. There was no question. And he was the one who was going to have to do it. He was going to pull the plug on a part of himself before it ever even had a chance to exist. And, in so doing, the entire history of the star system...the entire history of his very existence...would change forever.  
  
"I don't understand," Liz said. "How did they do this? You've only been here for a few hours. It can't be possible that they've managed to create an almost fully grown clone so quickly. I mean, it took over fifty years for our pods on Earth to produce six year olds."  
  
"They must have had my DNA from earlier," Max replied. "It's the only explanation. It doesn't matter anyway. The important thing is that we've found it and we can get rid of it."  
  
Max felt Liz tense through where they were still holding hands. "Max, how can we do that? It's [I]you[/I]!"  
  
"It's not me," Max told her grimly. "And we have no choice."  
  
There was a long pause. Max glanced at Liz. She was staring at the pod, her lips tightly pressed together.  
  
"Liz, c'mon. You have to know there's no choice."  
  
"I know," she replied quietly. "But we won't just be changing the history of this planet when we do this, Max."  
  
Max closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, and then said, "I know. But things are already different, Liz. There's no Ava here. That has to mean something. Things have changed already, and I have to believe that it's for the better."  
  
"But can we really make this decision for everyone? If we fix things here - if we destroy him - we'll never have any reason to go to Earth. We both know it. Everything will be different." Max could feel her trembling slightly. He pulled her close, wrapping his arm around her, but he didn't look at her. They both seemed incapable of taking their eyes off the clone. Max frowned. How could something that looked so peaceful, so much like [I]him[/I], be the cause of so much future misery?  
  
"Max, what if we're not even really here?" Liz asked in a soft voice. "What if we do this and we stop existing altogether?"  
  
"What do you mean?" He wasn't quite sure what she was getting at.  
  
"My memories of being Rowena go back exactly two days, Max," Liz replied evenly. "But she existed - she [I]lived[/I] - before my consciousness took over. Which means that she was forced out when I became her." Max felt his heart start to thump even more quickly, as he started to understand what Liz's quick brain had already worked out. "If we do this," she continued, "What if they come back? In fact, where are the real Zan and Rowena right now? Where's the Zan that came off that ship? Because that wasn't you. I know it wasn't. What if they come back permanently? Where are we going to go?"  
  
Max didn't know what to say. "I can't answer that," he finally said carefully. "But can we turn away? I mean, just because we're scared? All the people who are going to die..."  
  
"I know."  
  
Which meant that, really, there was nothing left to say.  
  
"Should we try to contact the others first?" Liz asked. She had already moved forward, and was looking around, her movements determined.  
  
"I just don't think there's time," Max told her. He looked around warily too. It was really making him nervous that no one had yet confronted them. "If we're going to do it, it has to be now."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I guess we just pull the plug," Max replied. He walked over to the pod, then ran his hands over it, searching for a way to destroy it. He felt a shudder run down his spine. This moment, more than any other, including first finding the pod chamber, reinforced to him that he really was a clone - that he had been born exactly this way. That he truly was alien.  
  
"Oh my God!" Max turned his head and looked at Liz. She was standing behind him, a horrified expression on her face and was staring past him, at the clone. Max looked up at the pod. He felt a shiver descend his spine when he realized that his clone was staring down at him. His eyes were open and he was looking directly at Max. Creepy was not a strong enough word to describe how it made Max feel.  
  
"Max, he's awake!" Liz said, sounding panicked. "How can we do this to him when he's [I]awake?[/I]"  
  
Max did not know how to answer her. She had stepped up beside him and was tracking her fingers lightly against the pod, fascination beginning to replace her upset. "God, he looks exactly like you."  
  
Max closed his eyes for a moment. None of this changed anything. He knew what they needed to do. He knew Liz did as well. But it was becoming harder to do it with every passing moment. They needed to do it now.  
  
Unfortunately, he had no idea what to do. As he ran his hands over the pod again, trying to ignore the fact that his clone was still staring at him, he was forced to admit that there didn't seem to be any way to harm the clone by simply pulling the plug, as he had termed it before. They were going to have to destroy it entirely it seemed. Max eyed the computers behind the pod, frowning. Unless he and Liz could somehow figure out how to use those things.  
  
He was about to suggest it, when he heard Liz gasp again. He watched in amazement as his clone, inside the pod, lifted his hand and placed it against the see-through material. The clone traced the outline of Liz's hand, which she had flattened against the pod.  
  
"Max, he sees us," Liz murmured, sounding upset. "We can't do this."  
  
"Liz..."  
  
"Max, maybe if we take control of him now, he won't be evil," Liz suggested desperately.  
  
They stared at each other for a long moment.  
  
They never got a chance to make the final decision, one way or the other. In the end, the clone made the decision for them. Because the next thing Max knew, spots were starting to appear in front of his eyes. It took him a moment to understand what was happening, but once he did, he knew that their hesitation might have been their undoing.  
  
He clutched frantically at the clone's hands, which were wrapped around his neck. He could hear Liz screaming, but he couldn't see her clearly anymore. She was starting to fade in and out as he struggled against the clone's iron grip.  
  
His last thought, before passing out, was for Liz. He was leaving her all alone. He felt a pang of utter failure, and then the world went black.  
  
Kate opened her eyes to intense sunlight streaming into her face. She raised her hand to block it out, which proceeded to jolt her out of the languorous waking in which she had been indulging.  
  
She stared at her hand in fascination. Because this was not [I]her[/I] hand. She was looking at long tapered fingers, which in and of itself wasn't that strange. After all, her fingers had been long before. No, it was the fact that they were covered in grey skin that was making her heart pound at ten times its usual speed.  
  
"Wow," she breathed in amazement. She sat up, and slid to the floor. Glancing around the room, she found herself to be admiring a spacious, high- ceilinged chamber. It was graced with floor to ceiling windows, through which the light was pouring in. Moving to the window, she stared out onto another planet. She gaped in amazement at the tall buildings surrounding her. She had always remembered something of her past life, of course, but nothing had quite prepared her for the reality of where she had come from.  
  
It was unbelievable. She was on some sort of city planet, obviously. The intense sun beamed off the thousands upon thousands of soaring edifices, almost blinding her with their magnificence. If she had not known already that the culture from which she had emerged was well advanced beyond that on Earth, the splendor before her would have told her so.  
  
She leaned further out the window, shivering slightly with unease when she looked down. The ground was far below. She looked up again, ready to drink in the sights...and quickly took a step back, shrieking when a face suddenly appeared in front of her.  
  
"Oh! Good! You're awake!"  
  
Kate stared at the grey, large-eyed face in front of her. "Do...Do I know you?" She looked down again. "And, what are you [I]doing[/I] out there?"  
  
The large dark eyes blinked once, and Kate watched in amazement as amusement flooded their depths. "Of course, silly. It's me. Are you still dreaming?" She gestured towards her feet. "I'm on the lift."  
  
Kate could see that the figure was indeed standing on some sort of moving platform. But she quickly let the strangeness of this appearance at her window go. Because, indeed she did know who this was.  
  
Vilandra.  
  
Kate did not know how she knew it was her, but she was positive she was right. Of course, it was Vilandra. And she was on Antar, waiting for her brother, Khivar to come fetch her home.  
  
But this wasn't supposed to be Vilandra, Kate realized, shaking her head. This was supposed to be Isabel. Something had gone horribly wrong!  
  
"Kara, are you well?" Vilandra demanded. She had stepped off the lift and onto the window sill, and now almost seemed to float gracefully to the floor as she entered Kate's room.  
  
Kate brought her hand to her temple, slightly dazed. "I don't know," she admitted. "Isabel?"  
  
"Isabel?" Vilandra said, laughing slightly. It was a musical sound, pleasant to the ears. The memories she held of Vilandra started to flood back at the sound of it. Charming Vilandra. Her best friend. "What is [I]Isabel[/I]?"  
  
"Your name," Kate whispered to the other woman. But Vilandra did not hear her, because she was already moving across the room to a door set into the wall. The princess keyed something into the pad set into the wall next to it, and it slid open, revealing a flurry of fabric in colours so rich they made Kate gasp.  
  
"You're just nervous," Vilandra was saying over her shoulder. "I should never have told you that Zan was coming home today." Her expressive eyes opened wider, if that was possible. While the rest of her face remained unreadable, those eyes told her that Vilandra was still amused. "He's still the same Zan, you know, Kara, even if he is king now."  
  
"King?" Kate prompted. She was beginning to get her bearings. She finally understood that the granolith had somehow deposited her into her previous life. Why she was not sure. She was also frightened. Because, if she was here, where was Isabel? Why did Isabel not know who she was?  
  
"You sound as though you're hearing it for the first time," Vilandra said, turning away from the clothing she was examining and eyeing Kate. "We need to grow used to it, I suppose. It has only been a few days."  
  
"But, your father..." Kate trailed off. Vilandra didn't seem overly upset that for Zan to be king, it meant that her father must have just recently died.  
  
"It was his time." Vilandra said. "I loved my father, but we both know he could be a difficult man. The system has been at a stand-still during his time on the throne. But, now, with my brother leading, our planets can finally truly unite and achieve the golden age for which we have all yearned for so long!" She tilted her head slightly, and Kate felt her confusion. "Are you not happy, Kara? You want Zan to return, do you not?"  
  
"Of course," Kate replied quickly.  
  
Vilandra laughed again. "'Of course' she says, as though she has not been waiting for this chance." She took a step closer to Kate. "Do you not know why my brother is returning, Kara? Can you really not know?"  
  
Kate grimaced to herself, although she wasn't sure if the expression appeared on her face. She had not yet seen her face, but she was guessing that, if Vilandra was any sort of indication, then her face was probably as serene as her friend's. "No," she finally admitted.  
  
"He's coming to marry you, of course," Vilandra replied.  
  
Kate gaped at her. "Marry [I]me[/I]?" she squeaked.  
  
"Of course," Vilandra repeated. "It is the most natural thing in the world that you should wed. You are friends, and allying our two planets will only benefit the system."  
  
"But, why now?" Kate demanded. "What about Ava?"  
  
"Ava?" Vilandra sounded confused. "Who is this Ava?"  
  
"The king of Knosis' sister," Kate reminded her. She was a little surprised that she had to. In spite of her reputation, Kate was aware that Vilandra had not been as flighty a princess as everyone had always deemed her. She remembered this about her friend, and the girl she was speaking to now did not strike her as at all like that either.  
  
"The king of Knosis does not have a sister," Vilandra replied. She sounded worried again. "Kara, are you certain that you are quite well?"  
  
"But why me?" Kate demanded.  
  
"Well, it cannot very well be me, can it?" Vilandra asked. Kate noticed the bitterness that entered the other woman's liquid eyes. "I am already married."  
  
"To Rath," Kate clarified.  
  
"Of course to Rath," Vilandra sighed. "Practically my brother." There was a long pause. "Would that I could be the one to unite our planets."  
  
She sounded sad, but the yearning in her voice made Kate start. Because, how could she have forgotten? Suddenly, without a shadow of a doubt, Kate knew exactly why she had been deposited where she had been.  
  
The shapeshifter. Whoever Grant had been on this world was in the process of wooing Vilandra behind her husband's back. He was pretending to be Khivar, to sow the seeds of discontent in the princess in front of Kate, so that, when the time came, Vilandra would flee Antar and take her army with her. And Kate was meant to stop it.  
  
But it also meant something else that sent a flash of horror through Kate's entire frame.  
  
Because, if the shapeshifter was already pursuing Vilandra, then that could only mean that the Zan who was returning to Antar on this day was not the Zan they wanted.  
  
And what that might mean for what had happened to Max did not even bear thinking about. 


	52. Chapter 52

[u]Part 52[/u]

Kate paced the length of the chamber, thinking hard. She had already guessed that the granolith wanted her to stop the cataclysm that was impending because of what was secretly unfolding in this palace, on Sardica, and also on Valonia. The problem was, she had absolutely no idea where to start.

The other problem was, she didn't even know if she wanted to start.

When she had agreed to connect with the granolith along with the others, she had never imagined that this would be the result. How was she to have known that, instead of having all their memories returned, they would find themselves back in time, possibly with the chance to change the disaster that was to come? She had believed that after they all learned the truth, they would head back to Antar together, to expose the shapeshifters, and to put their system back to rights.

This was an entirely different proposition. Instead, she found herself all alone in a world she didn't remember as well as she had always believed she did. Not only that, she was saddled with entirely too many complications. There was a Vilandra who didn't remember being Isabel, and was probably half-seduced to the dark side; there was the likely possibility that an evil Zan clone was already unleashed on the Five Planets; and there was the inherent knowledge that if they were really back at the beginning, before any of what was to come had happened, anything she did could change the timeline and seriously affect their future lives.

Which all boiled down to the only thing she found herself really worried about. Alex.

She knew it was wrong that she was even thinking about the possibility of their relationship - could it even be termed a [I]relationship[/I] at this point? It was too new - too uncertain, even though they had shared their first kiss - and how it would be affected by all this, but she couldn't stop her heart from going there.

Kate sat on the bed and watched Vilandra continue to pull out garments, tossing them aside as she rejected each one. She could not forget that this was supposed to be Isabel. That she was not supposed to be alone here. Why had the granolith left her all alone to try and figure this out?

Not that she would have felt particularly comfortable discussing Alex with Isabel. After all, Kate was no moron. She was aware that the other girl had finally recognized what she had thrown away by rejecting Alex. Kate still didn't feel entirely certain that she wasn't simply an Isabel replacement either. But, at the very least, if Isabel were here, she would have someone with whom to ascertain exactly what the granolith wanted from them.

It just didn't seem fair that another world's entire history - that of Earth - would be altered by fixing what had gone wrong on the Five Planets.

Because it didn't seem fair, it also didn't seem possible. Kate realized that she was going to have to forget about Earth for now. She was going to have to forget about [I]Alex.[/I] Her entire existence since her rebirth had been centralized on saving the people of this system. Now that she had the chance, she couldn't turn her back on it.

She was just going to hope that Earth was not being left out of the granolith's equation. And, if, in the end, it was, well, she would deal with those consequences then.

For now, Alex had to be put out of her mind. And out of her heart. To that end, Kate stopped pacing and addressed Vilandra.

"Has there been any word from my brother?" Kate deliberately brought up the one person her friend would least want to discuss, if she was already involved in an illicit relationship with him. She watched the other woman closely.

Did Vilandra stiffen? Kate narrowed her gaze. She couldn't be entirely sure that she hadn't just seen something that she wanted to see, but she thought perhaps she had. Vilandra's voice was still playful when she replied, "No, Kara. You seem overly eager to leave Antar these days. Don't you like it here anymore?" She turned, holding out a lilac gown. "Here. Wear this. Zan likes this colour."

"I like Antar well enough," Kate answered. "I'm just concerned. The last time I spoke to Khivar, he assured me that he would arrive immediately after the summit on Valonia." She paused, hoping that she was right that the summit must have ended by now. "It has been so long since I have seen Sardica." Kate wrinkled her nose at how true that was. It had, after all, been a lifetime.

"Yes, well..."Vilandra trailed off. "I'm sure Khivar is just busy. He will arrive when he can." She looked away. Although her visage remained placid, Kate felt a thickening of the atmosphere in the room. Was it guilt?

She decided to continue to play this hand, hoping that Vilandra might break and just confess. "Will your husband be returning with Zan today?"

"Rath?" Vilandra flinched visibly at that. Kate felt a moment of satisfaction. It didn't surprise her that Vilandra was so bad at hiding her emotions, even with her characteristic serenity. She guessed that it just was not in the princess' nature to be deceptive, and she was likely finding the whole thing rather trying. Particularly in the presence of her "best friend." "I suppose he will," she admitted, sounding distracted, as though this possibility hadn't even crossed her mind. "They are inseparable after all."

"The new king is lucky to have such a loyal general." It couldn't hurt, Kate reflected, to remind Vilandra that she was betraying her husband by carrying on with "Khivar." "I have always liked Rath."

"Rath is fine," Vilandra almost snapped. "I love Rath. But it is not like we are really married. We have never lived together as husband and wife. I have been at school, he has been off with the Sky Army. In some ways, I barely know him."

"You grew up with him, Vi," Kate replied. "He is a good man. It could have been far worse." She pressed her lips together, then added, "I mean, you could have been betrothed to my horrid brother."

Vilandra's already large eyes widened noticeably at this. "Your brother? You love your brother, Kara."

"I love him, but he can also be extremely aggravating," Kate said. She was aware that this was true of Will in both lifetimes. "He is very set in his ways. He is not flexible in the same way Zan is. I think that any woman would find life with my brother frustrating." She paused, then added directly, "Of course, you wouldn't know this about him. You have never met Khivar, have you?"

Vilandra was silent for quite some time. She had finished helping Kate to dress before she spoke again. "Your brother - he was betrothed to Rowena of Valonia on the day of her birth. It could not have ever been anyway. Why are we even discussing this?"

"What are we discussing?" Kate asked, forcing herself to sound cheerful, and not deadly serious, which was how she felt. "I thought we were just comparing notes on potential husbands. Is this not our greatest concern since we left school? And, since we know very few men, it makes sense that we would discuss our brothers."

Kate turned and looked Vilandra right in the face. "It can be difficult to have our futures decided for us, Vi. I know this. But Rath is a good man. He is loyal, and he is strong, and he loves you. I think you believe that any love he has for you comes from his dedication to Zan, but you must know that is not true. His love and loyalty to Zan come from his love for you. You can build a wonderful marriage..."

Kate blinked when Vilandra abruptly cut her off. "Stop! Karana, stop it!" The pleasant trill of her voice had taken on a hard quality, one that informed Kate that she had hit a bull's eye.

Vilandra turned away, her spine stiff. "You know, don't you?"

"Know what?" Kate asked, her heart beating more quickly.

Vilandra sighed heavily. "Don't lie to me, Karana. You are aware that Khivar is here."

"My brother? Here?" Kate tried to sound innocent, but knew that she was failing miserably. She decided to just admit it. "I know that you believe that my brother is here."

Vilandra turned around again. "Believe?"

For one long moment, Kate wondered if she should tell Vilandra the whole truth. That she was not really Karana at all - not anymore. That she knew about "Khivar" and Vilandra because she was from the future, on another planet, and she was here to stop their relationship.

Instead, she fibbed. "I saw you with him." She didn't specify where, because she didn't know where they had been meeting. She continued, "But, Vilandra, the man you were with..."

"I think I love him," Vilandra interrupted quietly.

Kate felt her heart go out to the other woman. But she could not falter. Not now. Vilandra needed to know the truth. "Vi, he is not my brother. You don't love him. You don't even know him."

Vilandra started, then stared at Kate, because this was clearly the last thing she had expected to hear. "What are you talking about?"

"After I saw you, I was in contact with Khivar - the [I]real[/I] Khivar," Kate replied. "The person you think you love...It is not my brother."

"How can I believe this?" Vilandra demanded. "It is absurd! I know what your brother looks like. I know who I have been with."

"Vi, it isn't," Kate assured her. "I can even prove it. We can go contact the real Khivar right now." Kate felt a pang at the thought of reaching Will on Sardica. She was anxious to do so, but she was also nervous. Because what would she do if the Khivar on Sardica wasn't Will, just like the Vilandra on Antar wasn't Isabel? She wasn't sure that she was ready to have that happen.

"But, if he isn't Khivar, then who is..." Vilandra trailed off, as the truth dawned on her. "He must be a shapeshifter. But, why?" Her voice cracked slightly. "Why would any Wendarian do such a thing? They do not mate with anyone outside of their race."

"That is true," Kate acknowledged. "So there must be another agenda at work here." Kate, of course, knew what that was, but she didn't want to tell Vilandra everything. She wasn't sure what the granolith intended for her to do, but she had a gut instinct that it wasn't that.

"But what?" Vilandra demanded. "Is he some kind of rogue? The Wendarians do not involve themselves in these types of games. They are above them."

Kate just shrugged.

"I suppose we will have to wait for Zan before pursuing this," Vilandra finally said. "My brother will know what to do." The princess sounded tired, and mildly defeated, if Kate was not mistaken. She felt sorry for the other woman, but she knew that this was what she was meant to do here. She could not allow Vilandra to continue to live in the illusion that she and Khivar were meant for each other. Vilandra could not be allowed to betray her brother and join the other side.

Of course, if Kate was right, then the Zan clone was already in place. The plot was already in motion. Waiting for Zan to arrive to fix things on Antar would not serve any purpose.

"I don't think we can wait for Zan," Kate told Vilandra. "We need to expose this now. There is some evil at work here. The sooner we root it out, the better."

"But, alone?" Vilandra wailed. "We can't do this by ourselves!" She put her hands on her hips. "What about Rath? He could help us."

"He's arriving with Zan," Kate reminded her impatiently. "We can't wait for them." She reached out and shook the other woman lightly. "Vilandra, I know you're upset about this. I'm sorry. But we need to do something about it. You have been deceived, but I don't think you've betrayed your husband yet, have you?"

Vilandra shook her head firmly. "No, but I do not deny that I would have." She sighed.

"But you didn't. And, now, you can fix things."

Vilandra was quiet for a long moment, until finally, she raised her chin and nodded resolutely. "Very well." She reached out and took Kate's hand. "Tell me what to do."

"Are you sure that you can do this?" Kate asked Vilandra. She was beginning to feel more and more sorry for the other girl. Now that her shock about Khivar had worn off, it was becoming ever more clear that she had truly believed herself to be in love with the shapeshifter she had thought to be Kate's brother.

But Vilandra seemed determined to prove that she could handle it, now that Kate had convinced her that they needed to uncover the Wendarian's obvious plot. Her grey visage seemed paler than it had several hours before, but she nodded resolutely. "Yes."

"I know it's going to be difficult to pretend that nothing has changed," Kate said quietly. "You could put him off tonight."

"He'll be suspicious," Vilandra replied. "Until you can get your brother here, so that we can confront the shapeshifter with the real Khivar, I will just have to live with it."

"But if Rath returns today..."

Vilandra shrugged, then sighed. "What will be, will be. If Rath returns, I'll need to tell him the truth, and I'm not sure I'm ready to do that."

Kate reached out and squeezed the other woman's hand sympathetically.

"Well, at the very least, you don't have to be here when I talk to Wi...er, Khivar," Kate told her. "He'll trust that I'm telling him the truth."

"It's all right. If you don't mind me listening, I think I need to know for sure that he really isn't here. I do believe you, Kara, but I just need this."

Kate grimaced. She had been hoping that Vilandra would leave so that she could try to figure out if Will was really Will, or whether he had disappeared into some vortex, as Isabel quite obviously had. But she couldn't refuse the other woman. Not now, when she was already being so cooperative and was obviously barely holding off her devastation.

She glanced down at the communication orb sitting in her hands. Kate hoped that it worked in the same way that the ones on Earth did. Because, if it didn't, she was going to have to figure out how to convince Vilandra to activate it without giving away the truth.

Kate closed her eyes and reached out with her senses, calling for Will with every fibre of her being. She felt the orb begin to heat up in her hands, and felt a rush of relief. So far, so good.

"Karana."

When she opened her eyes again, Kate found herself staring at a projected image of what could only be her brother. Although he looked like everyone else in this place, with his large, oval head, and grey skin, he was wearing a long green robe, which she knew to be the colour of the House of Sardica. She also recognized the piercing blue-eyed gaze as the same one she had known all her life on Earth.

"Khivar," she replied, her heart in her throat.

"Sister, it is not a good time. What do you want?"

Kate felt her stomach drop. Khivar seemed distracted, impatient. If this was Will, then he was doing a very good job of hiding it.

"I want to know when you are coming for me," Kate managed to reply, pushing aside her disappointment. She recognized that her voice sounded slightly strangled. "You told me you'd be here after the summit ended."

"The summit has [I]not[/I] ended," Khivar replied. "Zan has not returned with his decision, so it is not ended. I am still on Valonia."

"Zan is on his way back here," Kate informed him. "Didn't you know that?"

"What?" Khivar snapped. "That is impossible. I spoke to Yorvin, Rowena's bodyguard, only this morning. He would have told me if that were so."

"Khivar, Vilandra spoke to Zan this morning as well. He is on his way."

Khivar's gaze drifted to the right, seemingly taking in Vilandra's presence for the first time. "Princess, excuse me. I did not see you there." He looked back at Kate, obviously annoyed. "Kara, one would have thought that introductions were in order."

"You've met before," Kate replied frostily. She couldn't help it. Even if Khivar wasn't aware that he was Will, he was certainly acting exactly like him. His high-handedness could be extremely aggravating, as she had told Vilandra earlier.

"I am pleased to meet you again, my lord," Vilandra interceded softly. Kate was surprised when she reached out and took her hand again, as though seeking comfort. Kate squeezed gently. She could see that resignation had settled over Vilandra's serene features. She was now truly convinced that Khivar was not on Antar.

"Myself, also," Khivar replied. He turned his attention back to his sister. "Something is amiss, Kate."

The sound of her Earth name hit Kate like a ton of brings. He had just called her by her Earth name! This [I]was[/I] Will. Why was he pretending that he was not? Because of Vilandra? But how did he know that Vilandra wasn't Isabel? How could he possibly know this?

Kate needed to speak to him alone. She glanced at Vilandra, wondering how she could convince the other girl to leave. It was evident that she didn't want to be alone. She was still clutching Kate's hand as though her very sanity depended on it, which maybe it did.

Before Kate could make a decision though, it was made for her. The door to the chamber slid open, and a body was thrown unceremoniously through it. The newcomer landed on the floor in front of the two girls, staring up at them through pained blue eyes.

In the instant before they closed again, staying shut this time, Kate recognized them as the same eyes she had just seen on her own brother.

This was Khivar. [I]Another[/I] Khivar.

Vilandra screamed.

"Isabel, shut-up! Do you want the whole damn palace in here?" A second alien entered the room, and picked up his obvious prisoner by the scruff of the neck. He dumped him into a nearby chair, then glared at Kate impatiently. "Can I have something to tie him up with, or do I have to go through your underwear drawer myself?"

Kate felt such overwhelming relief, she had to sit down on the bed behind her. She did not recognize the voice, but the tone was too familiar to be denied.

It was Michael. A Michael who obviously knew exactly who he was.

"Kara! What is happening? Are you all right?"

Kate turned her head and stared at the projected image of her brother. Quite clearly, the jig was up. If Will was putting on a show for Vilandra, then there was no longer any need.

"Will, cut the crap," Kate snapped. "You know very well what's going on here." She gestured at the figure in the chair. Michael had done as he threatened and turned out several of the drawers in the bureau, until he'd found two long scarves with which he was in the process of firmly tying the other Khivar to the piece of furniture. "That's Grant. He's been impersonating you here for weeks."

She turned her back on her brother, whose eyes had narrowed. "Michael, I'm so glad to see you!" Kate exclaimed. She barely refrained from rushing forward and hugging him when he straightened. She somehow knew he wouldn't like it very much. He was all business at the moment. Not to mention, she was still fairly convinced that, in spite of the connection they had all made in the granolith when they had brought her back from the dead, he didn't altogether like either her or Will very much.

"Likewise," Michael replied gruffly. He didn't look at her though. Instead, he was staring at Vilandra, who had crumpled to the floor in a dead faint. "What's wrong with her?" he demanded. He hurried forward and picked up his wife, depositing her gently on the bed.

"She doesn't know who she is," Kate explained quickly. "She really thinks she's Vilandra. I think you just took ten years off her life."

Michael sat down next to Vilandra and took her hand in his. "Iz. C'mon, Isabel. Wake up."

The pretty alien's eyes opened slowly, until she was staring up Michael. Kate saw a flash of recognition run across the other girl's face. "Michael?"

"Yeah, Iz, it's me." He glanced at Kate. "I thought you said she didn't know who she was?"

Vilandra looked at Kate. Her large dark eyes glistened. "I didn't," she said quietly. "I mean, I wasn't in control. Until I saw Michael..."

"Why?" Michael demanded. "Isabel, what's going on?"

Isabel threw her arms around Michael's neck. "I didn't do it! I didn't betray you!"

And, abruptly, Kate thought she understood. Until Vilandra made the right decision, the granolith must not have allowed Isabel to be in control. Until her alter-ego rejected the idea of Khivar on her own, Isabel could not dominate. Because, for Isabel's own future peace of mind, she had to be convinced that even Vilandra could make the right decision. That even the 'flighty princess' could be loyal.

"Of course you didn't," Michael soothed. He pulled back. "Isabel, I thought you were past all this. Max and me...we both know you'd never do anything to hurt us. Not on purpose."

"I didn't," Isabel explained, her voice breaking slightly. "But now I do."

"I hate to interrupt..."

Kate looked at her brother's image. He was watching the proceedings in front of him, his expression mildly perturbed. Kate realized that she was beginning to be able to read subtle clues on the serene alien faces with which she was confronted. It sent a shiver down her spine. She was becoming comfortable in the skin she was inhabiting, she realized. She wondered why it frightened her.

"Are you going to wake him up?" Will asked Michael, when the latter stood, pulling Isabel to her feet beside him. "We need to get information out of him."

"What's to know?" Michael asked. "I prefer him unconscious. We don't want him running off and warning the other shapeshifters."

For the first time, Kate realized that she hadn't even thought about what they were going to do with the shapeshifter impersonating Khivar after they had exposed him. "What do we do with him now?"

"We're going to make him testify in front of that tribunal thing Courtney told us about," Michael replied firmly. "We need all the evidence to clear Zan we can get. We'll take him to Valonia with us when we go pick up Max, Liz, and Tess."

Kate heard Will snort slightly. She glanced at him, as Michael demanded, "What's your problem?"

"No problem," Will replied shortly. "I just don't understand how any of this is a good idea. We're changing everything here." He glared at Michael. "You do realize that, because of what you just did, nothing is ever going to be the same again?"

"Isn't that the point?" Michael snapped back.

"I'm sure your little girlfriend on Earth wouldn't think so."

Kate watched Michael tense. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that every move we make on this planet is making it less likely that we will ever be cloned and sent to Earth. There won't be a girlfriend in your future, if you don't stop just arbitrarily changing things."

Kate stared at the shapeshifter's crumpled form for a long moment, then closed her eyes. For the first time since she had convinced Vilandra of the shapeshifter's identity, she let her thoughts drift to Alex. The pain of it was surprising.

Had everything already changed? Would she ever even see him again?

And, if by some miracle, she did, would he even know who she was?

She met Michael, and then Isabel's, gazes. They both looked as horrified as she did. They all, as one, looked back at the shapeshifter helplessly.

What were they going to do?

Alex was jolted out of a light sleep by a scream. It took him a moment to get his bearings. He realized that he was still in the pod chamber, where Whittaker had insisted that they remain while their friends were doing whatever it was they were doing in the granolith. He sat up, staring around in confusion. How long had they been waiting anyway? Whittaker had seemed convinced that they wouldn't be gone for very long.

Of course, they weren't really gone at all, were they? Alex thought to himself. After all, their bodies were all still below him, in the chamber beneath the granolith. It was their essences that were gone, which Alex could only assume meant that, at long last, the human race had evidence that the soul did exist. Because their Czechoslovakian friends had sent theirs somewhere that Alex couldn't even begin to understand.

Just another confusing day in the alien abyss, he reflected, sighing, as he adjusted to his waking state and to the fact that it was Maria who had screeched.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked. His best friend had been curled up beside him, but now she was standing. She was staring across the pod chamber, at...well, apparently at nothing.

"Grant," Maria managed to say, sounding slightly strangled. "He...he...I..."

"Maria, what?" Kyle demanded. Their friend was now wide awake too, and was climbing to his feet nearby.

The sheriff's head emerged through one of the bottom pods. "What's wrong?"

"Grant, he just disappeared," Maria finally exclaimed. "He was sleeping over there. I was just lying here thinking, but I was staring at him, and he...he just..." She snapped her fingers, then looked at Whittaker, who had emerged from the granolith chamber behind the sheriff. "What's going on?"

"They're working more quickly that I imagined they would," Whittaker replied calmly. "This world is changing."

"What are you talking about?" Kyle demanded.

Alex didn't need Whittaker to explain though. The truth hit him so abruptly, he stumbled slightly.

"Alex," Maria said, reaching out to grab him. "What's wrong?"

"It's a time machine," he mumbled. "It's a bloody [I]time[/I] machine! They're changing what happened back on Antar." His voice rose exponentially with every word, until he was practically yelling. He pointed his finger at Whittaker. "Did you know that this was going to happen?"

"What? What's happening?" Kyle asked, beginning to sound slightly panicked.

"They're changing everything," Alex explained harshly. "Isn't that right?" He addressed this to Whittaker again, willing her to deny what he was saying.

She pressed her lips together. "I thought that being close to the granolith would be enough to protect us," she finally said, still sounding so calm, Alex wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled in her head.

"You thought? You [I]thought[/I]?" He glared at her. "We're all going to disappear, aren't we?"

"You won't disappear," Whittaker assured him. "You will still live."

"But..." Alex glanced at Maria, who seemed to be catching on. "Wait a minute! Are you saying that they're changing everything so that they won't even have to come here?"

"That's what I'm saying," Alex replied. He turned on Whittaker again. "You never told them any of this. They don't know what they're doing."

She gestured back towards the pods. "The granolith will protect us. We'll just move closer."

"The granolith didn't protect Mr. Sorenson," the sheriff reminded her. He sounded mostly like his usual self, but Alex could hear the fear in even Valenti's stern voice.

"I can't believe that the granolith will make them give up everything," Whittaker assured them. "It's not like that."

"Apparently no one really knows [I]what[/I] the granolith is like, do they?" Alex flared. "This is just great. Just peachy."

He felt a pang of guilt when Maria burst into tears next to him. "I'm never going to see Michael again! Or Liz!"

"I can't believe this," Kyle muttered. "Screwed again."

"We don't have time for this," Whittaker told the sheriff, obviously believing he was the most reasonable. "We must go into the granolith chamber."

"What's the point?" Maria wailed.

"It's the only chance," Whittaker replied. "Do you not want at least the chance that you might stay here?"

"I can't believe I'm just going to disappear," Kyle said, shaking his head, more in disbelief than dismay. "In my next life, I am going to kick Max Evans's ass for this." He rolled his eyes. "Oh, right, there won't [I]be[/I] a Max Evans in my next life. Thank Buddha for small favours."

"You're not going to disappear," Whittaker snapped, beginning to sound annoyed. "Or at least you won't if you'll get into the damned granolith."

Kyle stared at her, then sighed. "Stupid aliens," he muttered as he dropped to his knees and crawled through into the granolith.

The sheriff gestured for Alex and Maria to follow, obviously intending to wait until they were 'safe,' before joining them himself.

Safe. Ha. As long as their friends were playing around in the past, Alex thought, they weren't safe anywhere. Every move they made might result in the one move that meant the either he or Maria would disappear, never to know that aliens existed.

As Alex crawled through into the granolith, he wondered, for one brief moment, whether that might not be better than it sounded. It would certainly be a way out of the alien abyss, once and for all.

But, to never know Liz, to never know Isabel...No. He didn't want that. He needed them. He needed them both. And, more than that, he needed his chance with Kate. It just wouldn't be fair if they didn't have a chance!

When he unfolded his lanky body in the granolith, Maria came immediately into his arms, still sobbing with fear. At least he wasn't alone here. At least he had Maria. He rubbed her back comfortingly, drawing his own succor from her presence.

Because, when he stared across the granolith at Whittaker, who was watching the pulsing light at the base of the cone, he saw fear and uncertainty briefly flash across her face before she managed to school her expression back to its usual serenity.

Alex closed his eyes, hugging Maria more tightly. At least he had Maria, he thought again, because if even Whittaker - Serena of the Granolith, herself - was unsure of what was happening, he certainly wasn't going to find comfort anywhere else.

To be continued...


	53. Chapter 53

uPart 53/u

Max knew that he was dying. It was interesting to discover that, when this was the case, it was true that your life did actually pass before your eyes. Because that was what was in the process of happening to him.

He felt detached now, no longer possessing the will to fight. He could hear Liz screaming, but it was far away, beyond his ability to do anything about it.

It was right before he passed out completely from lack of oxygen that he realized that it wasn't Ihis/I life he was seeing. The flashes were unfamiliar and, yet, somehow he knew them too.

It was then, and only then, that he let go completely, giving himself up to the memories that might finally explain everything.

I He awoke in a cell. He stared up at the white ceiling, trying to remember how he had gotten there. It took longer than it should have. Whatever they had done to him had affected him badly.

Eventually it all came back. He was on Valonia. Before he had been taken prisoner, he had been staying at the crown princess's summer palace. Rowena's summer palace. Officially he was there to figure out how to resolve the trade conflict between Knosis and Sardica without alienating either planet. Unofficially he was there to avoid having to make the decision he knew his father wanted him to make, the one he couldn't in good conscious make, because he knew his father was wrong.

But, finally, he knew that it wasn't just his conscious that had brought him to the summer palace. She was the real reason he had come. Rowena. He had come to see if the spark he had felt between them at the conference was simply his imagination, or whether she had felt it too.

Until the moment he first saw her, Zan had thought the garden in which she stood to be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. They did not have such places on Antar. He spent many hours there, when he wasn't in meetings, enjoying the novelty of it. But, when he first laid eyes upon her, he knew that the garden was now put to shame. She was talking to her fiancé, Khivar, the king of Sardica, at the time, but he had barely noticed this. All he saw was her.

Zan's brother-in-law, Rath, introduced them to each other later that day. Few words were exchanged, but when his eyes met hers, he felt it again. A connection. A bond. And, for one brief moment, before she was led away by Khivar, he thought she felt it too. Her large dark eyes flared in a way that had set his heart pounding in his chest.

But, then, she left. Without a word, she left the summit and retired to her summer palace, and he tried to forget her, sure he had imagined it all. Until she invited him to join her there, supposedly to deliberate his decision, but some part of him had been hoping that it was for a far different reason.

When he arrived, nothing was as he expected. While she welcomed him warmly enough, in some ways, he felt as though she was a stranger. She was, of course, but somehow he had expected her not to feel that way. He was more disappointed than he admitted even to himself. She barely spoke to him, keeping to herself. He had been even more confused, and it angered him. He was the future king of Antar, the future high king of the system. He was not used to being ignored.

Finally, the night before, he had confronted her. He had gone to find her in her lab, where he knew she spent most of her time, having been there long enough to learn the pattern of her days.

It was then that he got the shock of his life. For it was in the lab that he found two of her.

He never found out what it meant though. One moment he was staring at them both in shock, as they stared back at him in equal horror; the next he found himself waking up in the cell.

It was only now that he realized that he was not alone.

One of them was curled up beside him on the pallet, sound asleep. He propped his head up on his hand, cringing when he felt momentary dizziness. Once he could again focus, he stared down at her, a frown on his face.

She was still exquisitely beautiful, but he now knew that she was not what she seemed. He could not trust her. None of which, of course, explained why she had been thrown into this cell with him.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Wake up," he growled.

Her eyelashes fluttered and in the next instant she was staring up at him. She sat up abruptly, waking up more easily than he had. "You're awake."

"Clearly," he replied icily. He did not move a muscle. He continued to stare at her, still lounging almost casually on the bed. She could not be allowed to see how her simple presence was affecting him. In spite of the fact that he now knew that she could not be trusted, he still found her intoxicating.

What was this feeling? He barely knew her! It was ridiculous. He needed to get control of himself.

"Why am I here?" he demanded, pushing away the desire to pull her into his arms.

She got to her feet, looking around the cell in dismay. "I..." Her voice trembled slightly, which served to annoy him more. She trailed off, clearly upset by the expression on his face.

He grabbed her, forcing her to look at him. "I'll tell you why I think I'm here, Rowena. You and Khivar dreamed this up together, didn't you? You're going to keep me prisoner here until I decide for Sardica. Isn't that right?"

She did not flinch, but she did not deny it either. Instead, she tilted her head and asked quietly, "How are you so sure that I'm Rowena?"

He blinked. "Aren't you?" He realized she was right. She could just as easily have been her mystery twin.

"Yes," she acknowledged. "But I'm curious as to how you know that I am, considering you've been consorting with my sister for the better part of two cycles without seeming to notice any difference. Or so she tells me anyway."

He didn't quite know what to say to this. "I didn't know you had a sister," he finally said, feeling foolish.

Rowena sighed. "Well, I suppose you might not call her that at all," she conceded. "But I considered her to be mine. I suppose that my presence here would indicate that she doesn't feel the same," she finished, somewhat wryly.

Zan just stared at her. He did not like feeling this confused. He was the crown prince of Antar. His family had ruled the system for generations. They were supposed to be informed of everything that went on with the other royals across the Five Planets. Instead, he felt completely lost.

And, for that reason, he seemed unable to control his temper. "Will you please stop speaking in riddles?" he snapped. "I want to know who that other person is. What is going on here?"

"Disaster," Rowena admitted, not seeming at all off-put by his tone. It befuddled him even more. "I had no idea this was going to happen, or I never would have given her so much freedom."

"What has happened?" Zan demanded, his voice rising in frustration.

"We've been taken prisoner, obviously," Rowena replied, looking at him strangely, as though he might not be quite all there.

He closed his eyes briefly, praying for patience. "I guessed that part. What I want to know is why you are here with me."

"Because my sister is trying to take over my life," Rowena told him, abruptly serious. "Or at least, she's being made to do so. I had almost convinced her to let me go before you came stumbling upon us and ruined everything."

"Let you go? How long have you been here?"

"A long time," Rowena replied sadly. "Since I returned from the summit. They weren't expecting me back so soon, but I had to leave." She looked away briefly. "I couldn't stay there."

"Who are /ItheyI?" Zan asked. He chose not to ask about why she couldn't have stayed at the summit. Not yet anyway.

"The Wendarians," Rowena told him. "They've taken control of my sister and they've corrupted her. And now she's going to take my place."

"The shapeshifters?" Zan stared at her, dumbfounded. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" Rowena asked, sounding sarcastic. "They're trying to take over the system."

"What? Why? They've never been interested in ruling!"

"Not especially," Rowena agreed. "But I think they've become intellectually stimulated by the fact that they think they can. I work closely with some of them, you know. They are attracted to a challenge."

"You're saying that they're trying to take over just to see if they can?"

"Basically," she said.

"That's ridiculous!" Zan exclaimed. "Why would they ever think we'd allow this to happen? Every planet in the system wants to maintain the status quo. That is what the summit was about in the first place!"

"Not everyone wants things to stay just the same, Zan," Rowena informed him. "But, at least, when those people try to change things, they usually have a reason," she muttered. "The Wendarians just enjoy chaos."

"This can't happen!" Zan told her. "I refuse to allow this to happen!"

"You're planning to stop them how?" Rowena asked, glancing around the cell meaningfully. "You're presently in a prison a mile below the surface of the planet. We're not getting out of here."

"Someone will notice we're missing," Zan replied. "They know where I went. They will come for me."

"Don't you understand?" Rowena asked. "No one is going to come. No one will know you're gone."

"Of course they will," Zan told her. "Rath will come for me."

"Zan, just as no one will come for me, no one is going to even look for you. Because of what I've done, no one will even know there is a need to do so."

Zan stared at her for a long moment. He could see by the expression on her face that she was deadly serious. She truly believed what she was telling him. But Rath would come. IIf he didn't, then his father would. Or his sister. Vilandra would know that he was gone.

And, yet, Rowena seemed truly convinced. She just watched him sympathetically, waiting for him to accept what she was telling him.

"I don't understand," he finally admitted.

"It's my fault," Rowena explained. "I created her, and she was able to create you. With the granolith, and under the influence of the Wendarians, she cloned you."

"Cloned?" His heart was pounding in his chest – not from the fact of her presence, which it might have very recently, but because, for the first time, he was truly terrified.

"You do know what a clone is?"

"Of course I know what a clone is!" Zan yelled.

Rowena was unafraid. She just calmly replied, "Well, then you will understand that no one will ever miss you, because there is a clone of you out there. As far as everyone is concerned, you are not gone. The shapeshifters will use your clone to take over the system."

"But someone will have to know. Someone will figure it out!" Zan said urgently. "They have to."

"No one will figure it out," Rowena told him. "No one who would intervene has any idea what I've been doing here."

"Rath. He will know the difference. Or my father."

Rowena moved towards him, taking his hand in hers. He knew he should flinch away, but he couldn't. Even now, when he was aware that she was absolutely crazy, he could not resist the fact that she was touching him.

It took him a long moment to understand what she was saying to him. But, when he finally did, he realized that none of this was shocking at all. Because when he finally learned the crux of the matter, it all made perfect sense.

"Zan, I'm sorry, but your father already knows."

He was not surprised. And, yet, he asked anyway. "What?"

"Who do you think wanted you cloned in the first place?"

And, with those gentle words, Zan knew that there was no hope at all.

They were kept in the cell for weeks. Or at least Zan thought it was weeks. He lost track of time fairly early on, the seeming hopelessness of their situation making its passing incidental.

They never saw anyone, although twice a day they were fed through a slot in the door, so Zan knew that they had not been entirely abandoned. He wasn't sure why they were bothering to keep either of them alive, but he chose not to question it. He might have lost all hope that they could somehow stop whatever it was that was taking place outside of their prison, but he was not yet ready to die.

Later, looking back on it, he knew that he wasn't willing to give up entirely because of Rowena. Not because she hadn't give up. She had, as completely as he had. In fact, /IbeforeI he had. Or at least so it seemed. Later he knew that this wasn't true, but at the time it seemed like it was.

The reason he wasn't ready to let go of all hope was that it seemed impossible that he could be allowed to feel so much for someone when they'd never again see the light of day. And, because he never could quite believe that they wouldn't escape someday, he started to enjoy himself.

He was ashamed to admit it, but there was something liberating in being completely free of responsibility. He knew she felt it too. It was why she was so prosaic about the situation in which they found themselves. She blamed herself entirely, but she also couldn't control what was happening, so she chose to let it go.

In the end, because there was nothing else they could do, they ended up doing the one thing they could. They got to know each other. It was why he had come to the summer palace in the first place, after all. And, she ended up being everything he knew she would be. Only better.

They talked to each other all the time. He told her things that he had never told anyone, including Rath and Vilandra. He found himself telling her things that he had never even admitted to himself.

One day, he told her that he was not particularly enamored of the idea of being king. He knew that it was selfish, and that it was what he had been born for, but he didn't want it.

She sat quietly for a long while after he told her this, until she finally said, "I don't think it's that you don't want to be king."

He felt a twinge of annoyance that she was treating his deepest, darkest secret so cavalierly. But all he said was, "You don't?"

"No," Rowena replied with great certainty. "I think it's that you fear you will not be a good king. You care about things, Zan. Too much. I saw it from the moment I met you, but I knew it even before that. The things Rath and Karana have told me about you...I knew how it would be." She reached out and took his hand, squeezing. "The fact that you don't really want to be king will make you a great one."

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter," Zan replied, after he could finally speak, because he realized that she was right. "It's not like we're ever getting out of here anyway."

It was in moments such as those where he became desperate to escape. Where he remembered how much he did care about his planet, and his people – how much he cared about the whole system. And he was afraid. What was going out there? What mess were the Wendarians making of the galaxy he had been meant to lead into the light? Because he knew it was a disaster.

If he cared too much, they did not care at all.

Only once did they discuss the disaster that Rowena had unleashed on their world - the clones that had made it possible for the Wendarians to proceed with their game.

Zan was not angry at Rowena for it. Not really. Because he knew there was a deeper reason for why she had done it than just to see if she could. She was not like the shapeshifters, after all. He knew it – had known it from the day they met.

Finally, one day, she told him.

"I just knew that something was missing," she said quietly. They were sitting side-by- side, cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the wall of their cell. She didn't look at him and he didn't look at her while she spoke. "My whole life, I was alone. I knew that something was wrong, and I tried to use science to change it. I thought the granolith was the key to changing it, because, once I figured it out, it was just so easy to do. I was sure that if I had a sister – someone like me, who understood me – it would all be better."

"I don't understand that," he admitted, after a long moment of silence. "You weren't alone. You had Khivar. You've known you were to marry him your whole life."

"It never felt right," Rowena told him. "It just wasn't right. He's never understood me. He's so strong and so certain. He always does the right thing. He makes me feel even more alone, because I'm not that way at all. I've always been uncertain." She laughed bitterly. "That's why I created Serena. It seemed perfectly logical. Another /ImeI. No one would be able to understand like another me. How was I to know that all I was really doing was bringing out the worst parts of me in her? She is even more uncertain, even more biddable and, yet, even more reckless."

There was another long silence. "You're not angry at her for it, are you?" Zan asked eventually. He turned his head to look at her. She was still staring straight ahead, seeing things he couldn't even begin to imagine. Maybe seeing the chaos her 'sister' was possibly helping to unleash at this exact moment.

"How can I be?" Rowena asked, sighing. "She's not to blame. I'm the one to blame. My selfishness and arrogance caused all of this."

"You're not selfish and arrogant," Zan insisted. "If you were, you wouldn't feel all this so deeply. You were trying to make things better. You couldn't have possibly known that the clones would go wrong."

"I was trying to make things better for myself," she reminded him. "And I should have known." She turned her head towards him, so that they were now looking at each other. Her dark eyes were pained. "Why could I not have been patient?" she whispered. "I should have known you'd come."

Their eyes locked for what seemed like forever. Zan felt his head moving towards her, and before he knew it, he was kissing her.

It felt like coming home. There was no other possible way to describe it. This was right, always had been, always would be, and now that they both knew what they had always been waiting for, there was no going back.

There was no going back, until the day they had no choice. Until the day that they could no longer simply be Zan and Rowena, but, rather, became again who they were born to be. Until the day when they had to emerge to fix the mess that had been wrought in their names, but in their absence.

And, in the end, it was all even worse than they had ever imagined.

It was Rath who found them, of course. Even in the darkest days of hopelessness, Zan had known somewhere deep inside that Rath would come. And, come he did, along with a full contingent of the Sky Army. It was Rath's personal army who accompanied him, Zan later learned, because Zan's own army was no longer under Rath's control.

It was now Zan's army, because he was indeed king. His father had died many weeks before, and, in the weeks since, civil war had broken out everywhere.

But that wasn't even the worst part. The reason Rath had finally come was the worst news of all.

"I knew it wasn't you," Rath said, embracing Zan. Zan knew it had to be really bad, whatever it was, if Rath was actually being demonstratively affectionate. Rath hugged Rowena, his cousin, next. Finally, he continued, "When it happened, I knew it couldn't be you, brother. It's why I finally came here myself."

"After what happened?" Rowena asked.

Rath closed his eyes for a long moment. Eventually he replied grimly, "You'll see soon enough."

And, when they emerged from deep underground, from the place of their captivity, which had since become their refuge from the real world, they did. While they had expected the worst, they had never, in a million years expected that the worst had been happening right above them.

Valonia had been completely destroyed./I


	54. Chapter 54

Part 54

Liz felt her heart stop beating when Max's eyes rolled up into his head. It was obvious that he had passed out due to lack of air. She had been frantically working at removing the Zan clone's fingers from around her boyfriend's neck, but once Max stopped struggling it became even more impossible. The clone's grip was like iron.

There was only one thing left to do. She didn't want to trust anyone here - in fact, she knew very well she couldn't - but she had no choice. She ran out of the lab, into the long white hallway, and started screaming.

"Help! Yorvin! Someone, anyone! Please, help!"

She rushed back into the lab. The clone had, by now, emerged from the pod. He had finally released Max, who was crumpled on the floor at his double's feet. Liz remained frozen where she was, uncertain how to proceed. The clone stared at her, as though curious to see what she would do.

There was only one thing she could do. She needed to save Max. She couldn't even bear to reflect on what she would do if it was too late. This was all her fault! Max was right. They should have destroyed the clone as soon as they laid eyes on him.

Liz felt tears fill her eyes as she hurried to Max's side, dropping to her knees beside him. She brushed them away impatiently. There was no time! She pushed him onto his back, preparing to administer CPR, when she realized that his chest was moving. It was rising and falling steadily. The relief that ran through her was so great, she sagged against him.

"Max." She shook him. "Max, wake up!" She knew that she should be keeping an eye on what the clone was doing, but she couldn't concentrate. She needed Max to wake up. She had to know that he was all right. When she glanced at the clone briefly, he didn't seem in any hurry to go anywhere, or to do anything. He just continued to watch her, his light brown eyes so like Max's, it creeped her out.

She returned her attention to Max. She shook him again, more firmly, then placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Max, please wake up," she whispered.

Liz had never felt so alone. Tess was gone, and now so was Max. She didn't understand anything that had happened so far. It was becoming ever more clear that entering the granolith had been a mistake. They weren't prepared for what they had been forced to confront here. They still weren't even sure about what they were supposed to be doing. Were they supposed to be changing things, or were they supposed to be learning, so that when the returned to Earth, they could come back here and fix things?

She knew nothing. She knew nothing except that she needed Max to wake up immediately. She repeated, more firmly, "Max, wake up!" She wondered if maybe CPR was what was needed after all. She knew the proper technique, of course, but was so panicked, she didn't take the time to think about what she was doing or prepare him. Instead, she simply pressed her lips against his.

He responded instantly. His lips moved under hers. He was returning the kiss! He was waking up!

It was her last clear thought before the flashes came.

"I can't go with you," Rowena said.

"I know." Zan had his back to her. He was standing on what was left of the main palace's balcony, surveying the destruction below.

Rath had brought them back to Valonia's capital earlier that day, in preparation to leave the planet. The plan was to head directly for the Council of Five Planets on Antar, in order to prove that the Zan presently wreaking destruction on the system was not the real Zan. After that, they would go to Sardica. Rath had informed Zan that the only way to bring the shapeshifters and the Zan clone to justice was to marshal the Sardican and Antarian forces into one grand army. And the only way to do this was to end the division between Zan and Khivar. Plus, they needed to expose Serena.

Originally, they had all agreed that Rowena should accompany them, because Rath was sure that Khivar would only accept Serena's duplicity if he saw the real Rowena. According to Karana, with whom Rath was still in secret contact, Khivar was nothing but pleased by the "Rowena" he had married, who seemed to love him in a way she had never done before. He would not be easy to convince.

But, Rowena knew that, at least for now, she could not leave Valonia. She was needed here. She felt tears fill her eyes as her gaze passed over what was left of her father's city.

No. It was no longer her father's city. It was her city. Her father had been killed in the first assault on the capital. She was now queen. The people suffering all over the surface of the planet were her people. She could not abandon them.

Although she knew what was right, in some ways she was torn. She was perhaps the only one who would be able to get through to Serena. She might be the only one to break the shapeshifters' hold over her mind. She had almost done it once, after all. But, she also knew that, morally, she could not leave.

She did not want to leave. For the first time, her duty was clear to her. She was through with selfishness. Rath and Zan could just as easily bring Serena and Khivar to her.

Because, she knew, without a doubt, that Zan would return to her.

"It's all right," Zan was saying now, as he brought an arm up and around her shoulders. She leaned into him, and he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I would want to stay too."

"I'm going to miss you so much," she whispered, feeling tears fill her eyes. Although they had been imprisoned, their time in that cell had not been all horrible. Not at all. In so many ways, it had been an idyll, one that they would never have again. Although they loved each other, they were leaders first and foremost. They owed their loyalty to their people first.

"I will come back for you. We will be together. I swear it."

"I will wait for you forever."

But Rowena knew that none of it would be that simple. There was still Khivar to consider. He was going to be seriously affected by the news that she no longer wanted to marry him. Not only that, but he was going to be furious when he found out that he had been duped. They had no way of knowing that any of this would work out as Rath hoped.

Rath saw things in black and white. It was rare for him to understand the shades of grey often created by emotions. It was not said, but, in their hearts, Rowena and Zan both knew that, to bring peace to their galaxy, they might be forced to give each other up. In exchange for the well-being of their people, the peace of their souls might be the ultimate sacrifice.

She decided that, until that day came though, she would pretend, just as he was pretending. Because, if she didn't, she did not know if she could go on. Now that she knew what it was to be complete, she needed him in a way that was almost frightening. She did not know if she could do any of this without him. And, yet, in the end, she might have to. The weeks they had spent together might be the only ones they ever had.

It wasn't enough! It wasn't nearly enough.

When he kissed her good-bye, she knew that he felt the same way. He was trembling in a way that made her fear for him. In that last moment, she allowed herself to cling to him. She allowed herself one moment of weakness.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, sending an intense shiver of longing through her body. It was the first time he had said the words, openly acknowledging what they had both known to be true from the moment they first laid eyes on each other.

"I love you," she replied. And, finally, she took strength from it. Even if they were never together again, they both knew what they were to each other. What they would always be.

It would be enough.

She watched Zan's ship lift off into the falling darkness. She stared after it until it was merely a pinprick of light against the black sky.

Then she straightened her spine and went to do her duty.

When Liz opened her eyes, she was no longer in the lab. Glancing around, she found herself staring at four blank walls. There was no door in sight. She chose not to question it, at least not immediately.

For now, she was relieved to discover Max beside her, still asleep. Or at least she hoped he was asleep. It was quite clear to her that she had not been. She had become Rowena for a while there. She wasn't sure how long it had been, but there was no question that she had no longer been herself.

Rowena's thoughts and memories filled her mind. Liz felt a pang of fear and, yet, hope, as she remembered watching Zan's ship leave Valonia. It had been revelatory to finally fully understand who her past-life alter-ego had been.

Rowena of Valonia had been a very lonely girl, thrust into a position of authority she didn't necessarily want, but one she had taken very seriously. There was only one person in whom she had found understanding. And, even though he had left her, knowing that he existed had been enough to help Rowena accept the responsibility that was hers.

Liz wondered if Zan and Rowena had ever been reunited. Or had they both died, never having laid eyes on each other again? Had one died before the other? Had the other known that their soul mate would never return?

But, in the end, Liz reminded herself, they had been reunited. In different forms, on a different planet, but, in spite of all the odds against it, and all the confusion trying to stop it, Zan and Rowena had found each other again.

Liz shook Max gently, hoping that this time he would wake up. His eyelashes fluttered briefly, but he did not move. By now, Liz had figured out that he too was reliving his past life as Zan. He was not yet ready to come back to her. And, until he did, she knew that she wasn't going to be able to figure out any of this.

They were a team, a partnership. They had made too many mistakes by excluding each other from the decision-making, in order to protect each other. This time, she would be patient. She would wait for him.

Liz lay down on the pallet next to Max, curling into him, and wrapping her arms around him. She laid her head on his chest, enjoying the steady beat of his heart.

Several minutes later, Max's heartbeat increased in pace, and Liz somehow knew that, in his memories, he was nearing the end.

"I have bad news," Rath said. He entered Zan's quarters on the flag-ship, a print-out in his hands.

Zan, who had been attempting to contact Vilandra with the communicator orb to which only the two of them knew the code, glanced up impatiently. "What?"

"It's all over the newsnet's," Rath replied, not at all put off by Zan's tone. "Rowena has been captured by 'Zan's' forces."

Zan stared at Rath in disbelief. "Please..." He couldn't finish the plea. The mere thought that anything had happened to Rowena...He couldn't even grasp it. Why had the Zan clone gone back to Valonia? At this point, he should have had no idea that the real Zan had again emerged. They were keeping it quiet until they reached Antar. The last thing they wanted was for his clone to catch them before they made it to the Council.

Rath understood what he was pleading to know, and said quickly, "It's not the real one. Apparently Khivar's wife went to parlay for peace, and your double broke all the rules of warfare and took her prisoner. But it's why you can't reach Vilandra. My sources in Khivar's palace tell me that she, Jondar, and Karana have gone after Rowena."

"So, you are sure?" Zan demanded. "He has Serena, not Rowena?"

"Yes," Rath assured him. "I just spoke to the captain we left on Valonia with Ro. She is fine."

"You've had no luck with contacting Vi either?" Zan asked.

"We haven't spoken in months," Rath replied bitterly. "She certainly won't return my communication attempts now. She thinks I'm insane."

Zan lowered his gaze, sighing. He knew that Rath had been hurt by Vilandra's defection to Khivar's side. While Zan was not pleased about it either, he understood a bit better. Vilandra had always been impulsive. She never thought things through, plus she had the connection to Karana that Rath did not. It still hurt that she believed him capable of what had happened on Valonia, but he could not blame his sister for turning on him. She was good-hearted and would have been horrified by the actions of his clone.

"I don't think it's safe to go to Sardica without Karana there. She would know you, Zan, but Khivar won't. He won't believe there are two of you." Rath started to pace. He sounded beyond frustrated. Zan was aware that his friend wanted to return to the status quo as quickly as possible. Rath hated change.

"He will have to accept it if the Council does," Zan argued. "I think we should proceed as we've planned. Until I have re-established my position, any other move we make will be suspect."

"I am beginning to wonder if the Council will even hear our case," Rath told him, shaking his head. "My sources there are not encouraging. Sardica has already turned down my request for an appearance. I'm sure Wendar will. They don't want anyone to know that your double is an impostor. Rowena will, of course, allow it for Valonia, but that's only if she is accepted as legitimate. Her captured sister is presently considered to be the queen. And Antar is firmly under the clone's control, although our representatives on the council will certainly recognize you. You, after all, bear the seal. It is unlikely that Serena knew about it when she cloned it. Only the Antarians are aware of its existence."

After this long speech about the current balance of power in the system, Rath sighed wearily, collapsing into a chair. Zan knew that Rath hated politics as much as he hated change. It galled Rath that he had to go to the Council at all. He would far prefer to take his army and blast the clone out of the sky. But, unless they had Sardica's Sky Army at their disposal, they would be unable to defeat the Zan clone's forces. And, so, politics and the legitimization of the real Zan had to come first.

They both knew this. There was no disputing it. But Zan could tell that Rath had something more to say. He seemed wary to proceed.

"What?" Zan demanded.

Rath locked eyes with him. "Zan, we need Knosis. There is only one way to secure their loyalty."

Zan clenched his jaw. "No." He had been against the marriage with Ava of Knosis even before he'd known Rowena. Now he knew that he had been waiting to find Rowena. And, now, it was even more of an impossibility.

"Zan, you've both agreed that she may need to marry Khivar once her sister's scheme is exposed. How is this any different?" Rath argued.

"No such agreement was ever made," Zan retorted. "I am the high king. I will marry where I will. And I choose Rowena. Khivar will have no say in the matter."

"Zan, be serious. You know that Khivar will never accept that. You will never secure an alliance with him if you don't allow him to make the decision about Rowena's marriage. He may very well reject her, once he knows that you want her, but you have to allow him that right. You need him."

"How can I do that?" Zan demanded. "I refuse to force her into a marriage she does not want."

"Rowena is practical, Zan. She knows very well that things may not work out between the two of you." Rath lowered his voice, forgoing his usual gruffness in an attempt to prove that while he understood Zan's reluctance, there was no choice. "Brother, you must accept this."

"I will not marry Ava," Zan snapped. "Drop it."

Rath stood abruptly, his anger clear. "Then you will never regain your throne, highness. If you do not secure Knosis, our cause is doomed. And if you do not do your duty, then, my brother, I can no longer serve you."

And, with that, Rath turned on his heel and stalked out.


	55. Chapter 55

Part 55 

"Are we there yet?"

Kate glanced at Michael, who was sitting next to her. He had reached forward and hit the button on the back of the seat in front of him, which opened a com link directly to the pilot of the small star cruiser in which they were presently traveling.

"Soon, General." The pilot sounded polite, but long-suffering.

"Well, hurry up," Michael said gruffly, switching off the com.

Kate smiled to herself when Isabel turned around in the seat ahead of them and snapped, "Michael, if you do that one more time, I swear I'm going to come back there and make you regret it."

Michael scowled, then retorted, "Yes, Mommy."

Isabel glared back. "If you stop acting like a child, I'll stop treating you like one. Can't you just sit back and enjoy the fact that we're on a spaceship or something?"

"I'm not a little boy, Isabel," Michael replied, his voice rising. "You can't distract me with this spaceship garbage. We need to get there! I don't trust that guy not to do something crazy."

"I'm sure we're going as quickly as we can," Kate soothed. "It's space travel, Michael. It just takes longer."

Michael turned his heated gaze upon her, making Kate cringe slightly. "I get that," he said. "What I don't get is why your brother hasn't returned any of our calls. I would be a whole lot more relaxed if he wasn't such a loose canon. Ironic that he was telling i me /i not to do anything stupid," he finished, under his breath.

Kate sighed, lowering her gaze. She wished she could deny it, but Michael was right. There was something fishy about the fact that they had been unable to raise Will on any communication orb since their last conversation, when her brother had warned them all against acting in haste, because they might regret the consequences if they ever managed to get back to Earth. "I wish I knew what he's doing," she murmured. "I hope he's okay."

"I don't trust that guy," Michael said abruptly.

Isabel twisted in her seat again. "Michael!" She glanced at Kate meaningfully, momentarily making Kate feel like she wasn't there at all.

"Well, I don't," he insisted. He looked at Kate. "No offense. It's not like I'm saying I don't trust you."

"None taken," Kate replied wryly. She wasn't offended, she realized. Because she was just as suspicious as Michael was. The fact was that, until she exposed him, Will had pretended that he was Khivar, which had seriously unnerved her. She still couldn't explain to herself what had been going through her brother's head. But, she could guess at some reasons for his behavior. None of them pleased her, and all of them involved his obsession with reclaiming Rowena - Liz - as his own.

Michael was opening his mouth to complain again, when he was interrupted by a beeping noise. Isabel reached forward and hit the blinking button on the console in front of her. "Yes?"

"If you'll look at the view-screen, highness, Sardica is just below us."

Isabel fiddled with a dial in front of her, and the large screen, that divided the compartment in which they were traveling from the pilot's cabin, lit up abruptly, causing all three of them to gasp in amazement at the vision that greeted them.

Antar had been spectacular, without a doubt. As they had left the capital planet, covered as it was in the lights of its vast cities, Kate had been certain that she would never witness such a sight again. But Sardica was magnificent in its own, completely unique, way. There were the lights of large settlements on the surface of Kate's native planet too, but there were also huge expanses of blue, which could only be one thing. Water. Sardica was completely covered by water.

When their ship finally landed, about another fifteen minutes later, the extent of what this meant greeted them as they debarked. The platform upon which they exited shifted slightly with every step they took. It was little more than a giant dock. Looking around in amazement, Kate realized that the whole city to which they had been brought was floating upon the ocean, which apparently covered the whole surface of the planet.

Why had no one ever told her that Sardica was a water world? How could this have been one of the memories she had lost? But, suddenly, it made complete sense that she had always felt uncomfortable in the desert on Earth. She felt lost there, bereft in some way she had never understood. As she breathed in the sea air that surrounded her, for the first time in her life, she felt like she was coming home.

Once they were swept into a nearby building by the guards who had accompanied them, Kate no longer felt like the ground was in movement beneath her feet. The edifice was obviously grounded in a way that the landing platform had not been.

"Princess Karana!" A grey-skinned man in a green uniform emblazoned with the symbol of the house of Sardica, came forward and bowed. Kate guessed that he was an immigration officer of some sort, because she was beginning to suspect from the bustle surrounding them that they had been escorted into something like a customs building back on Earth. "Welcome. What a...pleasant surprise." The way he trailed off for a moment made Kate wonder if he was really pleased to see her at all. She felt her heart start to beat unsteadily. "We were not expecting you!"

"You weren't?" Michael demanded, stepping forward. "That's funny. Considering her brother invited us here."

Isabel elbowed Michael firmly. "What my i husband /i ," this was said through gritted teeth, "means is that, if you contact Khivar, we are certain he will confirm our invitation."

"Not that I need one," Kate added. "This is my home."

"Of course it is, Princess!" the landing official exclaimed. "I did not mean to imply otherwise. It is just that we are unprepared to receive someone of your rank." He sounded embarrassed. "I fear that our hospitality will be poor."

"It's all right," Kate reassured him. "Rath, Vilandra, and I have no need of ceremony. We would like for you to contact my brother immediately. He is, as we have said, expecting us."

The official glanced at Michael, and then Isabel, his eyes widening. He bowed again, more deeply this time. Kate realized that it was because Isabel was of a greater rank than she. "I beg your forgiveness, your highness. I did not recognize you!"

Kate felt her heart go out to the poor, flustered man. "There is no harm done," she insisted. "We would just like to proceed to the palace."

But the man was babbling now, obviously very upset. "This is the second time in a cycle that we have been unprepared to greet royalty. First Lady Rowena arrives, unannounced, and now you all. How are we supposed to do things correctly if we are not informed?"

"Rowena?" Kate interrupted his tirade. This was news. Liz had not been with Will when they had last spoken to him. "Rowena is here?" She felt a rush of relief, which was quickly followed by a twinge of nervousness. "Was Zan with her?" she asked quickly.

"Zan?" The officer stared at her. "No. The high king is not on planet." He looked dismayed at the mere idea. "He's not coming too, is he?" He glanced around in despair.

"No, no," Kate assured him quickly. "I swear we'll let you know if he's coming." She looked at Isabel, who shrugged, obviously as perplexed as she was as to where Max was. This seemed to satisfy the immigration officer though, because he escorted them through the receiving area, to a large garage like structure, which was filled with slips that housed water craft of all shapes and sizes.

"The royal barge is, of course, at your service," the officer told them. "It is always ready to go."

"Excellent," Kate said, smiling slightly. "Thank you."

"Oh!" Michael called out to the officer, as he turned on his heel to leave them. "By the way, do you have a jail or something in there?" He inclined his head back towards the immigration building.

"Yes, why?" the officer asked, sounding nervous again.

"We have a prisoner on our ship. Stick him in there, will ya? We'll be back for him later."

Kate looked at Isabel, who was glaring at Michael. "Michael, what did you do?" she finally asked under her breath.

"I brought Grant with us," Michael replied, sounding surprised. "You didn't think I was just going to let him run back to whoever is messing with us, did you?"

"Michael! I thought we agreed that we were going to let him go! That we didn't want the timeline to be too messed up!" Isabel exclaimed. "You told us that you didn't tell him anything about who you thought he was. That it would work. With me gone, it's not like they can go ahead with the plan anyway."

Michael shrugged. "I changed my mind."

"Michael!" Isabel looked about ready to throttle him.

"Hey, I go with my gut!" Michael replied. "My gut was telling me not to leave the creep back there. So sue me!"

"Michael, you know he's not Grant yet, right?" Kate asked carefully.

Michael looked at her peevishly. "What, am I an idiot? Of course I know. I also know I'm right about this."

"Fine," Isabel sighed. "I just hope we don't regret this."

Michael's expression softened. "Iz, I swear I know I'm right. I just don't buy that we're changing everything back on Earth. I mean, it just doesn't i feel /i like that's what this is about."

"What do you think it's about?" Kate asked, curious.

"I think we're supposed to learn things," Michael replied. "Like when we brought you back. We couldn't do it until we learned stuff about ourselves. Like how Isabel wasn't herself until she understood that she wasn't going to betray me and Max. It just makes sense to me that it's why we're here. To learn stuff."

"So why isn't the granolith just letting us see our past lives?" Isabel asked. She sounded impressed with Michael's reasoning though, and relieved too, if Kate was not mistaken. Kate didn't blame her. It would really relieve a lot of the tension for all three of them if they knew for a fact that their every move wasn't dooming their friends back on Earth.

"Because someone hasn't learned what they're supposed to," Michael said, his tone darkening. He looked at Kate. "Three guesses about who it is, and the first two don't count."

"You think it's Will," Kate said, wishing that she didn't agree.

"The fact that Liz is here, and Maxwell isn't..." Michael raised his eyebrows. "That pretty much pounds the last nail into his coffin, in my opinion. He's up to something."

"I don't know," Isabel said. "I mean, he seemed really sorry about working for the other side. He was really upset after you got hurt," she told Kate.

"That was before he had the chance to change everything to his own benefit," Michael reminded her. "He's the one who's completely convinced that everything we do here is going to change the future. He still thinks he has a chance. I mean, I'm not saying he ever meant for you to get hurt last time," Michael added, looking at Kate. "But we brought you back once, after all. Why would he let that stop him now? He knows that if he screws up, we can all bail him out."

Kate felt sad that she couldn't argue with Michael. But she truly could not disagree. She had forgiven Will for what had happened back on Earth. She, better than anyone, knew how much of who he was had been wrapped up in finding Rowena, after all. And even Michael believed that he hadn't meant for anyone to get hurt. But learning that Ro was not his, and had never been his, had obviously destroyed something inside Will. Kate suspected that he was never again going to be the same brother she had always admired, the one she had always trusted to do the right thing. His obsession with Rowena had corrupted him. The scariest part of all was that she couldn't help but believe that Will was reliving exactly what had happened to his counterpart - the one who had rejected Serena when he had learned the truth about his wife.

Which had been one of the reasons their system had disintegrated into civil war. One of the things they had to make sure didn't happen again.

Unless she could get through to him, and if Michael was right - that they were in the granolith to learn about themselves, not about their past lives - then they might be trapped here forever.

Alex's face flashed into Kate's mind, making her close her eyes to shut it out. She thought of him often, but just as quickly made herself stop. She couldn't allow her feelings for him to interfere with what she knew she had to do - with what was right.

But he would not leave this time. The idea that she was never going to see him again...She couldn't bear it.

By the time the small boat shuttle in which they were riding pulled up in front of a huge palace, Kate's resolve was set. She was not going to leave her brother's side until she had made him accept that Liz belonged with Max. She would not allow herself to be stuck in this limbo forever. They were here for a reason, and she was not going to let Will's stubbornness keep everyone from returning to their loved ones back on Earth.

They all belonged on Earth, together. Liz belonged with Max. Michael belonged with Maria.

Isabel belonged with...

Kate blinked, and felt her heart stop.

She realized that she had been just about to think, "Isabel belonged with Alex."

Kate stumbled slightly on the walkway. She had been following Michael and Isabel into the palace, but she felt her legs weakening beneath her. Where had that completely out of left field thought about Isabel and Alex come from? And why did it seem to be affecting her physically? What was wrong with her? Why did she suddenly feel so out of it?

"Michael..." she called out weakly. She knew it was in vain. He wouldn't be able to catch her before she tumbled off the swaying walkway and into the water below, which was where she was headed if she collapsed. Michael was too far away. No one could help her.

The next thing she knew, the water was closing over her head. It was cold, but it was not cold enough to stop her from sinking into unconsciousness.

Right before she slipped away, she heard someone calling her name.

"Karana! Kara, come back!"

Her last coherent thought was that it was Jack.

_"We are going, so do not argue."_

_"I will not argue," Khivar replied. He was pacing under the tall windows of his office, his hands clasped behind his back. "I am just angry that I cannot go too."_

_"You know why you cannot, brother," Karana said, feeling sympathetic. "We cannot allow Zan to get his hands on you. He will win if you are captured." She looked at Jondar, her cousin, who was nodding his head in agreement._

_"I know that," Khivar snapped. "Which was the argument that Rowena used to convince me to allow her to go to parlay with him in the first place. It is still a valid argument. But it does not mean I have to be happy about it." He stopped in front of Karana, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Promise me that you will bring her back, Kara." He looked at Jondar, too, including him in his words. "I am placing my trust in both of you to do this."_

_Karana reached out and embraced her brother, tears in her eyes. She did not understand how it had come to this. How could Zan have possibly changed so completely? It made no sense. He had always struggled against the yoke of his father's desire for more dominance by Antar. The destruction of Valonia had been beyond her comprehension, and, at one time, she was sure it would have been beyond that of Zan as well. And, now, he was responsible for the kidnapping of that same planet's queen! The Zan she had known would not have held an innocent hostage. There had to be more to this than a simple power struggle._

_She was absolutely determined that she would not return to Sardica without answers. She and Vilandra, who had recently fled to refuge on Karana's planet - refuge from Vi's own beloved brother! It was absurd! - were in agreement. There was something wrong with Zan. It was now clear. They had failed him once; Karana by allowing him to send her away from Antar, Vilandra by deserting him and taking her army with her. They would not fail him again._

_They would save him from whatever madness had claimed him. Freeing Rowena was the first step towards his salvation._

_"I will not return without her, dear brother," Karana whispered. "I will save your wife. This is my vow."_

_And, by saving her, Karana knew that she would also save her friend._

_It was surprisingly easy to penetrate into the palace on Antar. Too easy. They had decided ahead of time that they would go in alone. They did not want to risk a fire fight - one that could result in the injury or death of either Zan or Rowena. Vilandra, of course, knew the palace like the back of her hand, and Karana knew it well too, having visited many times. It would just be safer and more logical for them to do this without their guards, without their armies._

_Things went wrong ridiculously quickly. The plan was for Jondar and Karana to free Rowena from the dungeons, which was where they all assumed she was being kept. Assuming anything was their first mistake._

_In the meantime, Vilandra would go confront her brother. They would remain in contact the entire time, using communicator orbs, which had been refined to the point that they would not even require thought to use. This proved to be their second mistake. Because Zan knew immediately they were there. And the communicators just ended up telling him exactly where they were._

_It was Jondar who first knew that something was wrong. "There are no guards," he whispered to Karana, as they huddled together near the entrance to the prison area of the palace. "It makes no sense, Kara. Why are there no guards?"_

_"What need of guards among friends?"_

_Karana jumped, knocking into Jondar. They both stumbled clumsily down the final steps into the open space leading to the cells._

_Kara had recognized the voice instantly, of course. It was Zan, and he was marching down the steps behind them, his sister grasped firmly by the upper arm. He was followed by a stream of guards wearing the blue-grey of the house of Antar. Apparently guards were required amongst friends, Karana reflected, momentarily wry._

_Zan's next comment solidified that this was all deadly serious though. His piercing dark eyes lit on Karana first. "I am mistaken. There are no friends here." He gestured and the guards swarmed Kara and Jondar, quickly subduing them. They had held their weapons in their hands, but there was not even time to attempt a shot. It was such a well-executed maneuver, Karana knew that they had been expected. Maybe not today, but this was a trap nonetheless._

_Zan thrust Vilandra down the remaining steps. The princess sprawled on the floor next to Jondar, who helped her up. Vilandra held herself stiffly. Karana knew her well enough to know that she was on the verge of tears._

_"Why have you come back?" Zan narrowed his eyes on Karana. "My sister tells me that it is for Rowena, but I cannot believe that this is so."_

_"You no longer believe in loyalty?" Vilandra demanded, her voice shaking. "What has happened to you, Zan? I do not understand what you have become."_

_"I have become what our father always wanted me to be," Zan growled. "You know this to be true, Vilandra."_

_Kara frowned. She realized that this was the first time she had ever heard Zan address his sister by her full name. It had always been Vi, or Vivi, or Vili. Never Vilandra. She felt a shiver descend her spine. This, more than anything, frightened her. Until this moment, she realized, she had not feared coming here at all. In spite of everything she knew he had done, she had not feared him._

_She knew now that she should have._

_"You have never cared about what our father wanted!" Vilandra reminded him. "What has changed, Zan? I demand to know!"_

_Karana watched Zan's face. It was a mask. He did not bother to answer his sister's question. Instead, he turned on his heel and started to walk away. "Deal with them," he instructed the guards as he made his way past them._

_"You coward!" Vilandra hissed, loudly enough that Zan turned his head and stared at her._

_"What did you call me?"_

_"You can't even deal with us yourself? Me, your sister. And your friend, Karana. We /i love i you, Zan. How dare you treat us this way?"_

_Karana could feel the rage coming off Vilandra in waves. She was no longer sad, just furious, in the way only siblings could feel towards each other, because it was also wrapped up in love._

_Which was why she said what she said next. She was his sister. It probably never crossed Vilandra's mind that it was a bad idea. And, so, she taunted her brother. "I dare you, Zan. I dare you, brother. I dare you to put me in that cell as we used to do, when we played together as children." Vilandra stepped away from Jondar, who had been supporting her after her tumble down the stairs. She straightened her back and glared at him. "I dare you."_

_And, before Karana's horrified eyes, Zan very deliberately took a weapon out of the hands of the guard standing next to him. Kara heard Vilandra gasp slightly, but it was the last sound she made before Zan shot her down._

_It was in that very moment that Karana knew the truth. This was not Zan. It was impossible. He was either possessed, or someone had taken over..._

_And, abruptly she knew. It was a shapeshifter. There was no other possible explanation. As she fell to her knees beside her best friend, as Karana held Vilandra in her arms when Zan's sister closed her eyes and died, Kara knew with every ounce of her being that this was not Zan._

_Karana did not even raise her eyes as Zan shot down Jondar next. She bowed her head over Vilandra's corpse, silent tears streaming down her face._

_"What are you doing? Stop! This was not what was supposed to happen!"_

_Kara raised her head, and stared dully at Rowena, who had appeared on the staircase above them. Her sister-in-law's horror was written all over her face. She wondered briefly if Zan would kill Ro after he was done with her. Why, in fact, was she still alive at all, if this was what he did to people he cared about? Rowena's death would mean nothing to him, if he killed his own sister, and one who was like a sister, so easily._

_Karana's gaze shifted to Zan, who was now standing over her, the weapon bearing down on her._

_Strange, Karana reflected briefly, as she stared into the abyss, already having accepted that her life was over. But Rowena does not seem afraid. She has made the same mistake. Because this is not Zan. He will kill her too. _

_The real mistake, in the end, was that neither Vilandra, nor Karana, had been able to believe that Zan would really do them harm. No matter what demons had claimed him, it had truly never crossed either of their minds that he could actually hurt them. Karana reflected on this fact and did not regret it. She was glad that she had never broken faith with her friend._

_Because, as she stared death in the face, Karana, Princess of Sardica, was convinced, although she would never know the hows or whys, that the man killing her was not Zan at all._


	56. Chapter 56

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I just wanted to apologize for the long waits between parts on this fic. We're very close to the end now though, and I should be updating more frequently.

Also, for those who are disappointed that this fic turned out to be about Max and Liz...Well, I'm sorry, but I never said that it would be anything else. My story is what it is. There isn't much I can do about it if you don't like it.

Thank you to everyone who is enjoying it, and I hope you continue to do so.

uPart 56/u

IZan stared out into the starry abyss. The sheer enormity of the tragedy that had occurred on Antar had not yet even started to penetrate his psyche, although it had been three days since he had heard the news about his sister and the princess of Sardica. He just could not believe it. He could not accept that the bright lights that had been Vilandra and Karana had been snuffed out so easily, and without any remorse.

He could not yet grieve, because he had not yet accepted it. He could not accept it. He refused. And because it was all anyone on the ship wanted to talk about, he stayed in his quarters.

Rath's threat of leaving his side had, of course, been nothing but an idle one. The general's loyalty was complete. It, however, did not mean that he hadn't continued to pressure Zan to at least consider a marriage to Ava of Knosis. Every refusal on Zan's part had only made his friend more persistent, to the point that, for the first time ever, Zan preferred to not be in Rath's company.

At the very least, the murder of Rath's wife had silenced his friend on the Ava matter. For a little while anyway. Zan did not doubt that it would all start up again eventually. But since he didn't want to talk about any of it, it was just as well that Rath was too wrapped up in his own grief to bother with Zan.

Rath, with whom Zan had shared everything, wanted nothing to do with Zan in their shared sorrow over the loss of Vilandra. Zan knew it was a turning point. And not a good one. This, more than anything, meant that nothing would ever be the same again.

Which was why he was startled when a beep sounded, alerting him to the fact that someone was waiting outside his quarters. He was so surprised, he pushed a button allowing them entrance before he thought better of it.

For a long moment after she entered, he stared at her. Somehow he had known it was her. Somehow he had always known that it would come down to this meeting.

"Zan." She bowed her head, moving forward into the room. She stopped several feet away, not moving any closer, waiting for acknowledgment.

He tilted his head, examining her. He could see no physical difference between this woman and the one he loved. He sensed it though. He had known from the moment she walked in that this was not Rowena. He wondered briefly if she had wanted him to make the mistake. What game was she playing this time?

"Serena," he replied quietly.

She lifted her eyes, not surprised, nor upset. So she had not wanted him to think she was her sister. Her clone. Or, rather, her /Ioriginal/I, because this was the clone. Which was at the crux of this entire disaster, in the end.

"I am so sorry for your loss," she said. "It was not...I never expected that it would come to this."

"To which loss are you referring?" Zan asked mildly. He could feel rage burning just below the surface of his control, but he would not lose it on her. Not when he needed her so badly. Not when he needed this woman - this monster - to fix everything. She was the only one who could do it. The only one who could stop the fiasco she had set in motion and return peace to a galaxy. One that had been on the verge of a golden age, but was now teetering precariously on the precipice.

/I "I don't think it's that you don't want to be king.

"You don't?"

"No, I think it's that you fear you will not be a good king."I

The memory of Rowena's faith that he could be a good king solidified his resolve, as it always did. It was the only thing that helped him to control his fury. The only thing that stopped him from reaching out and shaking the life out of the woman standing in front of him. The one who looked exactly like his love, but was so completely her opposite. He clenched his hands at his sides.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked, confused.

"I was just curious. Were you apologizing for the loss of my throne, or for the loss of my family?" He clenched his jaw, narrowing his eyes.

Her grey skin whitened slightly, but she did not rise to the bait. "For all of it," she said simply.

He didn't say anything for a long while. He knew she was sincere. What he didn't understand was why she was here. What had brought her out of the stolen life she had claimed for herself? Why had she decided that it had all been a mistake?

"What do you want?" he finally ground out. "How did you get on board, anyway?"

"They think I'm her," Serena replied, shrugging delicately. "They always think I'm her." The last was said with a great sigh. Zan knew she wanted him to feel sorry for her. He did not.

"You're not her," he said firmly. "You will never be her."

"I know it," Serena said, lowering her gaze again. "But, at the very least, I can try to do what she would. I can try to fix what is broken."

"Can you raise the dead?" Zan demanded sarcastically.

Serena lifted her chin, meeting his eyes. "I cannot change what was lost, Zan, but they are not gone. Not entirely. I can make it so that it is almost as if it never happened."

Zan stared at her. His heart started to beat more quickly. "Do you really believe that I would allow you to? After what your meddling with the forces of nature has already done?"

"What is the difference?" Serena demanded. "She did it first! Why is what I have done so much more awful?"

"Because she did it out loneliness, and out of love," Zan snapped. "You cloned me out of hatred. You let your jealousy of her permit you to do things that Rowena would never even contemplate."

"I know it," she replied. "I know you don't believe me, but I loved my sister. I didn't do it out of hatred. She didn't love Khivar anyway. But I did. I was doing it partly for her. So that she could have /IyouI. Anyway, I have changed. I swear it. I have known love now too. I know what I did was wrong. This time, I would be doing it purely for love. There would be nothing in it for me!"

"What are you even talking about?" Zan was weary. This woman was crazy. There was no way he could trust her to set things to right. Her answer was not to step forward and admit what she had set in motion. Instead it was to make things even worse by cloning those that had been lost. That she couldn't see that it would be a mistake, after what had transpired with the Zan clone - with /IherI! - she could not be trusted.

"Khiver," Serena explained. "I love him. He has lost his sister. He believes he has lost his wife. I must help him. He won't survive this."

Zan frowned. What had she just said? Had he heard her right? "What do you mean he thinks he's lost his wife?"

Serena's eyes widened. She took a step backwards.

"Serena." His tone was very quiet, and his heart was pounding so quickly, he could barely hear his own voice. There was a great rushing in his head. "Serena, what are you saying?"

"You didn't know..." She trailed off, looking around for an escape. "How is it possible that you did not know?"

Zan did not wait for her to gather her wits enough to answer him. He hurried from the chamber, and down several long corridors, until he found himself on the bridge of the starship. As the crew became aware of his presence, they all leapt to their feet, bowing.

The captain came towards him, respectfully. "Your highness. I am pleased to see that you are well."

"Well?" Zan demanded. "I haven't been unwell."

The captain blinked. "We assumed..." He paused, then continued in a rush. "When General Rath told us you were not to be disturbed, we assumed you were unwell."

Zan looked around wildly. "Where is Rath?"

The captain looked at him strangely. "Gone. He left two days ago for Knosis. We are to rendezvous with him on Valonia. For the wedding." The captain had started to speak very slowly, as though perhaps he thought Zan wasn't quite right in the head.

Zan stared at him in disbelief. "What wedding?"

"Your wedding," the captain replied, beginning to show his embarrassment.

Zan barely noticed. He didn't have time to worry about it. He sensed that Serena had followed him. He turned to look at her. "Did you know about this?"

"About a wedding with Ava? Of course not," Serena replied.

Zan grabbed her by the upper arm, pulling her to the far side of the deck, out of the earshot of the crew. He noticed them trying to pretend that they weren't all watching him. He knew he was behaving erratically, but he couldn't help himself. While he had spent three days in his quarters trying to accept his sister's death, his best friend had betrayed him.

He had failed again. He had allowed self-absorption to muddle his mind, and now it might be too late. If Rath presented Ava to him as his future bride - as a fait accompli - he was never going to be able to get out of it. It would be a diplomatic disaster of immense proportions.

"Zan." Serena wrenched away from him. "I know you're upset. But you must stop. You're not thinking clearly."

"Of course, I'm upset," Zan snapped. "My sister is dead. My most trusted general has gone behind my back and has made an alliance that I do not want."

Serena reached out a hand, touching his arm. "Zan, I am sorry that I told you about Rowena so abruptly."

Zan looked at her, then scowled. "You think she's dead. I know she's not. But Rath will use these reports to his advantage. He is going to put me in a position from which I will be unable to remove myself."

Serena stared at him. "Zan, she is. Your clone headed directly to Valonia after he killed the princesses and Lord Jondar. He fully intended to take care of both of you."

Zan started. "He doesn't know I'm not there?" He narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute. How did you know I wasn't there?"

"I've been in communication with Rowena, of course," Serena replied, as though it was the most logical thing in the world. "To warn her. But I fear I was still too late."

"Why didn't you go with the clone?" Zan demanded. "To protect her!"

"Do you think I have any control over him any longer?" Serena asked, looking at him as though he was crazy. Zan was beginning to wonder if maybe he was. "I was there when he killed Vilandra and the others. I went to Antar in the first place to try to stop him. I told you! None of this was supposed to happen! He was only supposed to take your place. How was I to know that he was wrong? That he was insane?"

Zan felt his anger melt away abruptly. "Of course you couldn't have known," he admitted. "Because you're not crazy, are you? You really are here to help."

"Of course." Her eyes filled with tears. "I swear to you, nothing was supposed to turn out like this. You and Rowena were supposed to be happy together on Valonia, with no one the wiser. I knew that neither of you wanted to rule anyway. I would have let you go eventually, once everything had been worked out. Once you saw that the clone could manage things."

Zan scraped a weary hand across his face. "I understand. It makes perfect sense. I'm sure Rowena told you a million times that she didn't want to be queen."

"Yes," Serena nodded enthusiastically. "And I heard what everyone said about you. The whole galaxy knew that you were at odds with your father because you were not happy that you were going to be king."

Zan was dismayed. "Everyone thought that?" It made sense though. He had never acted like he wanted to be king. He hadn't even known that he wanted to be. Only Rowena...and maybe Vilandra and Rath...had ever guessed that it wasn't that he didn't want to rule. It was that he feared turning into a man like his father.

Serena didn't answer. She just watched him, as though waiting to see if he was really going to allow her to help him.

Zan sighed heavily, then moved back towards the captain. Serena trailed after him.

"When will we arrive at Valonia?" he asked. His heart started to beat more quickly at the thought of it. He was going to see Rowena again - and much sooner than he had ever hoped.

"In ten solar hours, your highness."

"Valonian solar hours, or Antarian?" Zan demanded, knowing that the Valonian were much longer.

"Antarian, of course, your highness," the captain replied, sounding affronted that Zan had even asked. Zan rolled his eyes. Although the captain was right. He should have known. No Antarian would ever refer to any other type of hour. To most Antarians, none of the other planets mattered much at all. It was an attitude that Zan's father had nurtured, much to the detriment of the entire system.

"Very well," Zan replied. "Notify me when we are within visual sight." He turned on his heel and left the bridge.

Serena hurried after him. She grabbed at his arm. "Zan, what is happening? What are you doing? You can't go to Valonia. You will be walking right into a trap. He will be waiting for you."

Zan turned his head and stared down at her. "There is no choice. I am the only one who can deal with the clone." He paused, then added, "And, once he is gone, then we can discuss this idea of bringing my sister, Karana, and Jondar back."

"And Rowena," Serena added.

"That won't be necessary," Zan told her. "Rowena still lives."

Serena scowled at him. "Zan, it's impossible. The clone has been on Valonia for days. She is gone. You must accept it."

Zan glared. "Serena, just as I knew that you were not her, I also know that Rowena still lives. I would know if she were gone."

Her eyes lit up slightly. "Are you sure?"

He looked at her, hard. "Would you know if Khivar were gone?"

There was a long pause, then she whispered, "Yes."

"I thought as much. Then believe me now. Rowena is alive."/I

To be continued...


	57. Chapter 57

Part 57

"_Highness, we are being hailed."_

_Zan looked up. He and Serena were standing over the captain's computer on the bridge, and had been examining the lay-out of the royal palace in Valonia's capital, planning the assault that they were both certain would be taking place later that day. Zan had been there as a guest during the summit, of course, but it was a huge compound, and he did not know it well. Serena knew it even less, having spent her entire life on Valonia hidden in the summer palace on the other side of the planet. _

"_Who is it?" Zan asked, frowning slightly. He could guess though. It had to be Rath. No one else knew where he was, and, thus, no one else would know the frequency at which this ship could be contacted._

_Zan's suspicions were confirmed by the captain's response. "It is the general."_

_Zan scowled. He still was uncertain about how he was going to deal with his wayward best friend. There was no doubt that Rath was loyal, but he had put Zan in an entirely awkward position with his insistence that Zan should marry Ava to secure the support of Knosis. And if he was actually contacting Zan now, it had to mean that Ava was with him, which made Zan's virtually honour-bound to marry her._

_All he knew was that he was not going to do it, politics be damned. He would marry no one but Rowena. Rath could marry her if he was so bloody insistent on the alliance. _

_Of course, the fact that Rath was free to marry at all reminded Zan instantly of the great loss they had both just suffered. It had never occurred to Zan before that Vilandra had always played a major role in bonding him to Rath. Since her death, their ties seemed to be more fragile than Zan could have ever imagined possible. It made him feel more charitable as he nodded at the captain to bring Rath up on the screen of the computer._

_He sat down at the console and met his best friend's gaze across the miles that separated them. Rath's expression was implacable. "Zan," he muttered gruffly._

"_Rath," Zan replied wryly. "You've been busy, brother."_

"_Highness, you know I had no choice," Rath snapped, instantly defensive. "I am merely doing my job. You were not in any state to make this decision. Rowena's death makes this marriage an absolute necessity. We can no longer even rely on Valonia's support."_

"_I do not doubt that you had my best interests at heart," Zan assured him. "However, your methods have not pleased me. Since when do we play games with each other, general?"_

_Rath sighed heavily. His expression softened. "Zan, I apologize. It was wrong of me to not consult you about this. But you must see that it is unavoidable now."_

"_Is she with you?"_

"_She is in her quarters," Rath replied. "She is most eager, Zan. She has always loved you. You know this."_

"_She barely knows me," Zan said. _

"_You barely knew Rowena," Rath snapped. "This should not prove to be a barrier to something that is the best for everyone."_

_Zan held up his hand. He needed to clear up another suspicion, one that Rath's mention of Rowena was making more acute. The topic of Ava could be dismissed for the moment. "It does not matter. I will see you both soon enough and we will discuss what is to be done face to face."_

"_Zan, you know what is to be done."_

"_Rath, your cousin is alive. Nothing is yet determined," Zan said firmly._

_Rath's startled expression helped Zan to release the last of his anger. It was clear that his friend had not known that Rowena still lived. If he had…Zan knew that he never would have forgiven him. "She's alive?" he said, sounding choked. "You are certain?"_

"_Yes, she is alive," Zan replied. "Although I am still wondering why you chose not to inform me that everyone else thought she was dead."_

_  
Before Rath could reply, Serena leaned forward over Zan's shoulder. Zan suspected that it was a technique to prevent him from arguing further with Rath, and it annoyed him, but he let it go, as he watched his friend's face whiten further. "Ro?" he croaked in amazement. "I do not understand…"_

"_No," she replied. "Serena. But Rowena is alive. I have spoken with her."_

_Rath's expression darkened. He again addressed Zan. "You are letting this traitor influence you, Zan? Have you lost your mind?" He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I never should have left you alone."_

"_I am not a child," Zan snapped. "I am the king, Rath. And it is time for you to recognize me as such. I make my own decisions."_

"_Then make good decisions!" Rath practically yelled._

_Zan felt his anger rekindle. "You forget yourself, general." _

_There was a long charged moment when Zan wondered if Rath was truly going to break with him over this. His best friend's face was turning an interesting shade of purple. However, Zan would not concede to Rath's position. He knew that he was right to trust Serena. He sensed it instinctively, and his instincts, to this point, had never led him astray._

"_I apologize," Rath finally bit out. He pressed his lips together for a lengthy moment, then added, "We are only several light years from Valonia now. My army awaits your pleasure, your highness."_

_Zan allowed himself to relax slightly. "We will prepare for battle then." He met Rath's eyes squarely. "Tonight we retake Valonia. After that, we will make the decision regarding my future wife."_

"_The decision has been made," Rath insisted. He looked at Zan pleadingly. "Zan, we cannot change this now. You must marry Ava." He scowled slightly. "I know the clone is listening, but I do not care. You can not trust her, Zan. Rowena may not be alive. Do not let her sway you. Brother, please listen to me."_

"_We will speak of it later," Zan replied firmly. He sighed heavily. He did not enjoy being put in the position of having to choose between his most loyal general and Serena. Because, presently, there was no choice. She was the one he most believed in, but Rath was his longest and best friend. He did not want to lose him over this. _

_But it was Serena he had to trust in. They had a common cause, after all. And, presently, as hard as they were both trying to pretend otherwise, he and Rath did not. At least not when it came to the end game._

"_I will speak to you later," Zan said quietly to Rath now. He knew he sounded dismissive, but it was how he felt. He and Rath were not on the same page, and there was not much that could be done about it at the present time._

_Rath closed his eyes briefly, slumping back into the chair upon which he was seated in another starcruiser light years away. "Be safe, highness." _

_Before Zan could reply, his general broke the channel. Zan rubbed the bridge of his nose, a knot in the pit of his stomach. He truly feared that the rift developing between him and Rath might prove to be unbridgeable._

_He stood, glancing at Serena, who was watching him sadly. "I am sorry, Zan."_

"_There is nothing to be sorry about," Zan replied. "Rath's loyalty will see us through this."_

_And, yet, his anxiety over Rath would not go away, even while he, Serena, and the captain of the ship discussed strategy for the coming battle._

_It was not many hours later, when the news reached him, only moments before they were to rendezvous with his general, that Zan understood why. Somehow, deep inside, he must have known that he had just spoken to his best friend for the last time._

"_Your highness, something is amiss." The captain was staring at his computer, a scowl on his face. "General Rath's ship is not where it is supposed to…"_

_But Zan was already staring at the forward view-screen. He had been informed that Valonia would be visible there within moments, but there was no sign of the planet beneath the large armada of star-cruisers hovering above it._

"_What in…" He leaned forward, his heart in his throat. But he knew. He knew what had happened. Rath had come upon this fleet of ships, quite by accident, and had been blown out of the sky. Even now, Zan was starting to pick out the debris floating among the ships hovering around them. Because there were already completely encircled. Their entire army had been subdued in an instant, because they had been completely unprepared for this reception._

_No one was supposed to know that they were coming. How had the clone known he was coming?_

_It took him a moment longer to realize that it could not have been the clone though. Because these were not his ships. This was not his army - the army that the clone presently controlled. These ships were entirely foreign to him. _

_Serena, who was standing next to him, breathed the answer, although Zan had already guessed. "It's Khivar."_

_Zan clenched his fists at his sides. "Hail him," he ground out through gritted teeth._

_Moments later, the king of Sardica was facing him on the screen. "What have you done?" Zan demanded. He had not laid eyes on Khivar since the summit on Valonia months before, and, after his first comment, he momentarily felt taken aback at how the other man had aged. Khivar had not seemed much older than Zan then, although he was, by several years. Now though…it was clear that he had hardened considerably._

_The expression of pure hatred on his face did nothing to dispel this impression either. _

"_What should have been done months ago," Khivar sneered. "He was a fool in his loyalty. He has now paid the price for it." His expression was purely malevolent as he continued, "And you are about to do the same. I don't know how you got off that planet, but I don't care." He gestured behind him, then met Zan's gaze again. "Prepare to be engaged."_

"_Khivar!" Serena exclaimed, nudging Zan aside. "You have made a dreadful mistake! Stop this!"_

_Zan watched Khivar do a double-take at the sight of her. "Rowena!"_

"_No," Serena admitted grimly. "Rowena is on the planet."_

"_What? What game are you playing?" _

"_I am not Rowena," she replied. "But I am your wife. And you have just played right into our enemy's hands."_

"_He is the enemy," Khivar replied, although his uncertainty was clear. Zan felt no pity for him, however. He had murdered Zan's best friend in cold blood. Not to mention Ava, princess of Knosis. The situation in the galaxy had just worsened exponentially. Knosis would be out for blood when word of this got back to that planet._

_Not that Zan was not out for blood now. He felt a wave of grief wash over him at the thought of Rath. His best friend - gone. Completely gone. And all because of his complete loyalty to Zan. A loyalty that Zan had held far too lightly of late._

_The grief was quickly overwhelmed by rage. "You are going to pay for this!"_

_Serena grabbed his arm. "Zan, control yourself. It was a mistake. We cannot allow this to divide our purpose."_

"_He killed my best friend!" Zan yelled. "Rath is dead, Serena! The best of us is dead because of him!"_

_He turned back to the screen. Khivar was gaping at him, his dismay now obvious. "You will pay for this, Khivar," he repeated. "I am still high king of this system, and you are a traitor. I will see you lose your throne over this."_

"_You stole my wife!" Khivar yelled back. He paused, then added, "If that even is my wife." He leaned forward, as though examining Serena through the com system. "She said she was not. What is she, then? A shapeshifter? What game are you playing? You killed my betrothed and now you're having someone impersonate her? I knew you were a sick bastard, Zan, but this is beyond even what I would have expected of you!"_

_Zan desperately wanted to wrap his hands around Khivar's throat in that instant. He cursed the miles of space that presently separated them. "You know-nothing half-wit," he muttered instead. It was not at all satisfying. But he would have his revenge. If it was the last thing he did, he would see Khivar off the throne of Sardica and executed for assassinating Rath. "You just killed the princess of Knosis as well. The entire system will side with me over this."_

"_The entire galaxy is out to stop you, you madman!" Khivar bellowed back._

"_Stop it! Both of you!" Serena practically screamed. "Don't you see? This is exactly what they want! You are doing all the dirty work for them! You must work together!" She grabbed Zan by the front of his robe, forcing him to look at her. "Zan, think of Rowena. You need Khivar. This is fate. He is here to help you. With his army at your disposal, you will take Valonia for certain."_

_Zan managed to take a deep, shuddering breath. It was taking all his energy not to brush her aside. But he managed it. Intellectually he knew that she was right, but he was still so angry, he could barely see straight. If he let his anger go, he knew that his grief - this never-ending loss - would overwhelm him._

"_Zan, you must meet with him. Together you can end this once and for all." Serena shook him slightly. She was small in comparison to him, so it did not do much. In fact, it stunned him, then momentarily amused him, which managed to break down the last of his rage._

_This was not what Rath would have wanted. Rath wanted this war to end. His death, and that of Ava, had been a tragic mistake. But it could not result in an even bigger one._

_Serena was right. He should not mistake his enemy. Sardica was not his adversary - at the moment anyway - although it was highly clear that it was going to take a lot to convince its king of that._

_They needed to meet. Now. He only hoped he would be able to control his temper. Because while Sardica was not his enemy, Khivar most certainly was. For many reasons, not the least of which was that he had, without remorse, killed Zan's best friend._

_Zan turned back to the view-screen, addressing Khivar, who was now watching him suspiciously. "I am bringing your wife back to you," he said firmly. Without waiting for an answer, Zan reached out and switched off the com. _

_He looked over his shoulder at the captain. "Prepare a shuttle."_

_The captain was frowning. "Highness, is this wise?" He had been hovering nervously, obviously completely unprepared for what they had encountered when they arrived at Valonia. Zan could not blame him for his concern. His entire fleet was presently encircled._

_They were outnumbered, and had been outmaneuvered. Zan would never allow himself to be so unprepared again. And there was only one way to resolve any of this. They needed Khivar on their side. For now. The rest of it could be dealt with once they had taken care of the clone._

"_Do it," Zan snapped._

_Within the hour, he and Serena were disembarking from a small shuttle on the deck of Khivar's flag-ship, with a small contingent of soldiers backing them up. They were told that the Sardican king was waiting for them in his quarters near the bridge._

_Serena clutched at Zan's arm as they followed one of Khivar's generals through the maze of passages that led to the bridge. "Zan, you must control yourself," she whispered. "If this goes awry…"_

_He looked down at her, nodding. "I know that I will not have another chance."_

_She stared up at him, her dark eyes completely guileless. And, so, it was not until they actually stepped through the door in front of them and had come face to face with Khivar that Zan knew that he had been more than outmaneuvered. He had been completely duped._

_Because, Khivar was not alone. Standing next to him was the last person Zan had ever expected to see there._

_It was Rowena._


	58. Chapter 58

Part 58

Kate opened her eyes and found herself staring at a field of stars. It took her a moment to realize that it was a window - actually a sky-light of some sort - and that she was staring out at the night. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. She wasn't tired, although she felt groggy. In fact, she felt as though she had been asleep for years.

Turning her head, she realized that she was not alone. There was a largish grey alien seated across from her, its head lowered into its chest. It was wearing a long, green robe, the chest emblazoned with what Kate recognized as the insignia of the House of Sardica - a bV/b with a dot confined between the two sides. Instinctively she knew it was Jack. After all, it was his voice she last recalled hearing before she had fallen into the water.

Kate shivered as she remembered the suffocating feeling of drowning - first in the thick water, then in the memory of dying in her past life. She felt her heart thunder in her chest, panic beginning to claim her. Reliving being killed at the hands of Zan's clone brought back the memory of waking up in the pod chamber after Nasedo had ended her life on Earth.

She still remembered how cold it had all been. Only seeing Alex upon waking, seemingly waiting for her, had brought any warmth.

There was no warmth now. Because there was no Alex here. And, yet, in spite of that, she knew that this was where she belonged. She didn't belong with him. It was the truth that had crossed her mind before she had passed out - that Alex belonged with Isabel. He might not know it yet, but it was what was meant to be. It was Isabel he really wanted. Kate's heart had recognized it long before her head. She was a replacement for the person he really loved, but was sure he could never have.

It was what the granolith wanted her to learn. It was why she was seeing everyone in this world in their original forms, while Isabel and Michael had stressed that, to them, everyone looked exactly as they had on Earth.

She belonged here. Isabel belonged on Earth - with Alex. The irony was that, for Isabel, after she had finally recognized what she had in Alex, he had found what he had wanted from her in someone else. But, at heart, it was Isabel he really wanted.

Which was another reason Kate belonged here. If she returned to Earth, it would only confuse matters. Alex would deny it. Kate knew he would.

She knew what had to be done.

"Jack."

Her cousin jerked, having been only in a light doze. He jumped to his feet, hurrying to her side. "You're awake! Finally!"

Kate allowed him to grab her hand. It brought some comfort. She no longer felt as cold as she had.

"What happened?" Kate asked, squeezing his hand back. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"A while," Jack said. "It was pretty obvious, after we pulled you out of the water, that you were basically okay. But you've been out of it for close to two days." He lowered his head, his voice quiet. "God, Kate. I was so worried. You know, that somehow we hadn't really fixed you. After what Nasedo did to you."

Kate reached out and touched his cheek. He looked up at her, his large eyes glistening. "I'm okay," she insisted. "It was the granolith. I had to know what really happened to us," she continued. "I guess that having me relive it like that was the only way."

"So _this_," Jack motioned around the room, "isn't reliving it?"

"I don't think so," Kate replied. "I'm not sure what _this_ is," she admitted. "Maybe some kind of waiting room where we're stuck until we all learn what we're supposed to." She frowned slightly. "I don't think we're changing things on Earth, Jack. The stuff that I saw when I was out of it…We're doing things so differently, but I just feel like everything's going to be okay back there."

There was a long silence. Kate could feel her cousin's reluctance to say what was on his mind, so she pressed his hand reassuringly. "It's okay. You can say it."

"Isabel and Michael…" Jack said, his voice halting. "They said that they see us like we looked on Earth. Katie, I don't."

"Me neither," Kate told him. "I know that it's weird. But I think I've figured it out. I think it's telling us who belongs where…what our jobs are going to be when this is all over. When we go back. Or when we don't."

"You sound like maybe you don't want to go back," Jack said. The unspoken question hung in the air between them. _What about Alex?_

"I want to go back," Kate said softly. "But I know I can't. It's not my path, Jack. That's what the granolith is telling me. I think that's why we're seeing people as aliens, and the others aren't." She brought her hand to her heart. "I can't leave Will. I just can't. He needs me. He needed me before, and he needs me now. I have to be here. Isabel and Michael belong back there, but we just don't. It doesn't matter what we want. It's just how things have to be."

"I guess it's the price we pay for being who we are," Jack said. "A family." He reached out, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him. "Alex is going to be sorry. I don't know him very well, but even I could tell that he really cares about you."

"I know he does," Kate said. Her heart contracted slightly. She hoped that Alex would understand - that this wouldn't hurt him too much. That he would get that she was doing this partly _for_ him, not _to_ him. So that he could see the truth about his romantic feelings for her. That he was just transplanting what he felt for Isabel to her. "I care about him too."

_I care enough to let him go_, she thought, closing her eyes against the pain of it.

After she had refreshed herself, Kate allowed Jack to lead her to where the others were waiting. They were gathering in Will's presence chamber, having been informed that she had woken up. Kate had learned that they had all taken turns sitting with her, confused about what was wrong with her, and unwilling to leave her alone. It made her feel warm again - loved. Not just by her brother and her cousin, but by Michael, Isabel, and Tess too.

Because Jack had also told her that it wasn't actually _Rowena_ - Liz - who was on Sardica, as the landing official had thought. It was Tess. The mistake made it even more clear why there had been so much confusion in their past lives with all the clones running around.

"We aren't actually on Sardica anymore," Jack said as he led the way down a long corridor.

"I assumed that," Kate replied wryly. After she had gotten her bearings upon waking, she had spent a few more minutes looking through her skylight, only to realize that the sky was actually in movement. Which meant they were back on a ship. But it was such a large ship, it was almost impossible to feel like they were traveling anywhere. It was nothing like the small shuttle she, Michael, and Isabel had taken to Sardica in the first place.

"We're going to Valonia," Jack continued, after having grinned at her. At least that's what Kate assumed his expression was. It looked a little strange on his long alien face. "Max and Liz are still there. Or we think they are. We haven't been able to communicate with them. But it's where Tess left them."

"Why did Tess leave?"

"Apparently Liz was convinced that Tess needed to be with Max again for some weird reason. Max didn't know who he was at first and it freaked Liz out. Tess left to force Liz to face that she couldn't keep running away from the fact that it's never going to be easy. That if she wants Max, she's going to have to suck it up and say so. She has to fight for it."

"Poor Liz," Kate sighed. "She's had to deal with more stuff than any of us. At least we've always known who we are." She frowned slightly. "I wonder why Max doesn't know who he is. I mean, Isabel thought she was Vilandra at first, but that was only until she learned what she needed to - that she wasn't going to betray Michael and Max again. Shouldn't it be Liz who doesn't know who she is?"

"Who knows?" Jack shrugged. "Anyway, we're going there, because we all need to be together to figure this stuff out. I mean, we don't even really know why we're here at all, do we?"

"Apparently Serena didn't understand the granolith as well as she thought she did." Kate sighed. "I got the impression from what she told us that we'd all just relive what happened before. I don't think she thought we'd actually go anywhere. None of us bargained on any of this."

"But did we actually go somewhere?" Jack asked. "That's the confusing part. Tess is convinced no. She thinks this is just the granolith's elaborate way to make us decide between Earth and here. That we couldn't really make a decision on one or the other until we knew what _here_ is like."

"Maybe…" Kate said, knowing she sounded uncertain. "But I still think it has something to do with someone not accepting what they're supposed to learn."

"Well, if that's true, it certainly drives home the point that we're all connected to each other," Jack commented. "If someone is still unwilling to let something go, until they are, we're all stuck."

Kate stopped walking. "Who is it, do you think?"

"It has to be Liz," Jack replied. "She seemed so accepting of it all, when we connected to bring you back, but I think being here must have been really shocking to her. It drove home that she's not entirely human. That's why we're going to Valonia. To remind her that she belongs where she wants to belong."

"Did Tess say whether Liz is seeing people as humans or aliens?"

"Humans," Jack said.

"Maybe that's it then," Kate agreed, but deep down she was pretty sure it wasn't. She was pretty sure she knew who was _really_ the one still clinging to something that could never be. But she couldn't make that determination for sure until she came face to face with again.

Which she did, about five minutes later.

When Jack and Kate joined the others, Will was standing near a large window, which displayed a field of stars in all their magnificence.

The alien figure Kate recognized as Michael was standing with him, his arms crossed, annoyance practically radiating from every part of him. Kate wondered what her brother had said to irritate Michael this time. Probably not much. Michael definitely did not like Will. Which Kate almost couldn't blame him for. Michael was loyal to Max. And Will's entire being was focused on taking away the one person who meant the most to Michael's best friend. It was Will that Kate was sure had not yet accepted that he and Liz were never going to be together. He said he did, but the fact that he had tried to hide that he remembered his Earthly side, when they had contacted him from Antar, did not bode well that this was entirely true.

She felt a pang of guilt for suspecting the worst of her brother, because the instant he became aware of her, he came towards her, his arms outstretched. When he reached her, he hugged her hard. "I'm so glad you're all right."

"Thank you," Kate said quietly, pulling back and staring him full in the face, trying to read what was really going on in his mind. His grey alien face was ridiculously placid, however. Kate had developed something of a facility at reading these expressionless visages, but Will's was impenetrable.

"What happened?" This question came from Isabel, who was seated on a sofa nearby. A small female alien, who was obviously Tess, was leaning forward, apparently as eager to hear Kate's story as Isabel.

Kate lowered her eyes. She realized that she wasn't quite ready to tell Isabel exactly what she thought the granolith had meant for her to learn. Because if she did - if she told Isabel that she was standing aside so that Isabel could pursue Alex again - it would be the end. Completely the end. In her head, she knew that she had already made the right decision, but her heart wasn't quite ready to give up on the dream of having someone just for herself.

"I found out how we died," she said instead, not elaborating on why it happened when it did. "I guess someone had to."

"You did?" Isabel stood, moving closer.

"Yeah." Kate quickly filled the others in on the details of Vilandra, Jondar, and Karana's deaths. "So it wasn't Zan at all," she concluded. "It was his clone."

"I guess we all sort of knew that," Isabel said, sounding relieved. "But Max will be glad to have it confirmed."

"Speaking of Max, how much longer until we get there?" Kate asked.

"Not long," Will said, his tone strangely even. Kate noticed that Tess was watching him, a quizzical expression on her face. It occurred to Kate that Tess and Will had spent some time together alone before she, Isabel, and Michael had arrived on Sardica. Jack had been there too, of course, but there seemed to be a weird charge in the air between Will and Tess that had not existed before.

"In the meantime, I'm trying to convince your brother that we need to interrogate the shapeshifter," Michael added, his tone gruff. "He doesn't agree."

"What's the point?" Will demanded. "We know what he's been up to. It's just going to be hard on Isabel."

"And as I said," Isabel interjected, sounding wry, "Don't make the decision based on me. I'm over it. Trust me. I barely remember him, plus I thought he was you." The tone of her voice seemed to indicate that now that she remembered the real Will, losing 'Khivar' wasn't much of a loss at all.

"I want to talk to him," Michael insisted. "We don't know what we're going to face when we get to Valonia. Maybe he does."

"There _were_ shapeshifters there," Tess said. Will glanced at her, then away again. Kate frowned at that. He was quite deliberately ignoring Tess now. What the heck was going on? Tess noticed too, because she sounded annoyed when she added, "We're probably walking right into a trap."

"Fine," Will snapped finally when they all stared at him for a lengthy moment of silence. "Just don't blame me if…" He cut himself off abruptly, instead going to the wall and speaking softly into a communication device there.

Kate glanced at Jack, who seemed as perplexed as she did. What was Will's problem with this? Wasn't information worth a little discomfort?

"Are you really all right?" Tess asked, distracting Kate from her brother's strange behavior.

"Yes," Kate replied, smiling slightly. "Thanks."

"We were really worried," Tess said. She reached out and took Kate's hand, squeezing lightly. "I'm glad you're okay. It must be weird…knowing how you died."

"It wasn't pleasant," Kate admitted. "But it did answer a lot of questions." She looked at Tess intently, remembering that she wasn't sure if any of Tess's questions had been answered. She didn't yet know if Tess was seeing things through human or alien eyes. The tension that existed between her and Will also seemed to indicate that Tess had been dealing with some issues of her own. "How are _you_?" Kate asked, curious.

"I'm good," Tess replied. "I'm where I'm supposed to be." Kate noticed that she was watching Will, who had gone to stare out the window at the stars again, when she said it.

The granolith was doing its job. The pieces were all falling into place. But as Kate examined the tense line of her brother's back, she had to wonder if Will was ever going to accept what was meant to be.

She knew now, for sure, that it was Will who had trapped them in the granolith. Liz might be a part of it, but it was Will who had to change. And, until he did, none of them were going anywhere, no matter how much they learned.


	59. Chapter 59

Part 59

_Zan stared at Rowena, unable to understand why she was there. His first instinct was that this wasn't Rowena at all - that it was a shapeshifter - but as he reached out with his senses, he knew that it was her. He could _feel_ her. This was no imposter._

_He narrowed his eyes, thinking hard._

"_Zan," she said quietly. He tried to read her tone. It was simple greeting, however. She was composed, not at all upset, and, in fact, seemed somewhat indifferent to his presence. Zan swallowed. She was not a prisoner. That seemed clear enough._

"_What are you doing here?" he demanded. He glanced at Khivar, who was watching him, no expression on his face. "What is happening here?"_

"_She is my wife," Khivar replied for Rowena, when it was clear that she wasn't going to say anything. "Where else would she be but at my side?"_

_Zan looked at Rowena again. She gazed back steadily, guileless. Zan felt even more perplexed and, now, hurt. He knew he was missing something, but he could not quite put his finger on what it was._

"_It is I that you married. I am your wife," Serena snapped, stepping forward. It seemed clear from her tone that she had no idea what was going on either, but that she did not intend to show it._

"_You are a clone," Khivar replied coldly. "You are not my wife. You were a proxy, nothing more, nothing less." He reached out, taking Rowena's hand and bringing it to his lips. She allowed it, but her expression did not change. It remained still and implacable._

_There was a long moment of silence as Serena digested this. "If you knew - if you knew the truth all along - why did you act so surprised to see me an hour ago? If Rowena was here all along, why did you not just say so?" Her voice started to rise over the course of this, until she sounded slightly hysterical at the end. Zan reached out a hand, placing it on her shoulder, to tell her that he would take over._

"_Why have we been brought here?" he asked calmly. He did not again look at Rowena. He would deal with her later. For now, this was between him and Khivar. "What are the terms of your surrender?"_

"My_ surrender?" Khivar let out a short bark of laughter. "Are you joking?"_

"_You killed Rath, a prince of Valonia, in cold blood, without any justification" Zan replied evenly. "You killed Ava, crown princess of Knosis, as well. You are in no position to call the shots here, Khivar. I am the high king, and you will be brought to justice."_

"_You are no longer high king," Khivar said quietly. Zan narrowed his eyes. His heart was thudding in his chest as Khivar reached out and hit a button on the table in front of him. A small screen was revealed on the wall behind the king of Sardica. Khivar did not turn his head, but continued to watch Zan. Zan ignored him, shifting his gaze to the screen._

_Zan recognized the five figures on the screen immediately. They were the delegates to the Council of the Five Planets, one each for Antar, Sardica, Valonia, Knosis, and Wendar. Zan focused on his father's old friend, Larek, who was Antar's representative. He met Zan's gaze unflinchingly. But Zan could see, even across the many miles of space that separated him from Larek, that the old man was trembling._

_It was in that instant that he abruptly understood what was happening. He knew why he had been brought here._

_He listened impassively as Larek said what Zan had already deciphered was coming._

"_Zan, Prince of Antar, the Council of Five Planets has unanimously voted to remove you from the throne of Antar. The charge of high treason against the system you are sworn to protect has been proven, and has gone unanswered by you. The act which procured this charge was the destruction of the planet of Valonia. Because your heir, Vilandra of Antar, is dead, the next in line is Khivar, King of Sardica. He has jurisdiction to arrest you, and to bring you back to Antar for trial. So it is spoken, so shall it be done."_

_Zan heard Serena's gasp of outrage next to him, but he did not look at her. Instead he looked at Rowena. She would not meet his gaze. Her chin was raised, but she kept her eyes firmly to the left of his face. _

_He smiled slightly. He could not help it. He forced himself to wipe it from his face._

_Clearing his throat, so as to hide his pride in Rowena, he looked at Khivar. "Very well. You have won."_

"_Zan!" Serena's shock was evident. "Zan, this is some game. You must know it is! What are you doing?" She grabbed him by the arm, trying to shake him. _

_He disentangled her small hands gently. "It is no game, Serena. And, even if it is, it is apparent that we have lost. If the council and the king of Sardica choose to allow the shapeshifters to manipulate them, there is no way for me to stop it." He looked back at the screen, where the council was still watching, apparently wanting to bear witness to his arrest. "If the deaths of Rath and Ava are to go unanswered, then I have no choice but to submit. I have no desire to rule over a system that treats innocent life so cavalierly."_

_Zan glanced at Rowena again. She lowered her eyes, although he knew she had been watching him. He smiled slightly again. "Good luck with that one." He directed this at Khivar, nodding in Rowena's direction. "You will need it."_

_With that, he moved to the door, and allowed the guards to take him._

_Rath was waiting for him in the room to which he was led. Zan could not help the emotion that welled within him at the sight of his general._

"_Brother." He moved forward, clasping Rath firmly by the hand. "I am relieved to see you well."_

_Rath smirked. "That was a neat performance, highness." He nodded at the view-screen behind him, indicating that he had watched the usurpation of Zan's throne upon it. "I was worried that you would not catch on."_

"_You underestimate me," Zan replied. _

"_No," Rath replied seriously. "But I did underestimate your trust in my cousin."_

_Zan smiled slightly at the thought of Rowena. "It is hard to understand it, I suppose."_

"_Indeed," Rath said. _

"_How?" Zan asked, because there was really nowhere else to go with that train of thought, being as Rath was uncomfortable discussing Zan's love life. Unless it was a matter of policy, of course. "Where is Ava?" he added, because, of course, if she was present on the ship, she was a liability. The Knosians were in on the plot to disrupt the ruling houses of Antar, Sardica Valonia together after all._

"_Ava is under house-arrest, although I am fairly certain that she is not a party to any of this." Rath looked at Zan sternly. "She really does want to marry you. And it would solve the problem of the Knosians, bringing them to our side. If all four planets were aligned against Wendar, the battle would be over before it was started."_

"_Possibly," Zan replied. "But I am unwilling to trust that at present." He returned to the main subject. "How? How did you pull this off? And how did you get Khivar to agree to it?"_

"_Rowena did that," Rath said. He sounded admiring. "My cousin has the makings of a true stateswoman. She understands exactly what men want, and how to go about convincing them to do what she wants to get it."_

"_I know it," Zan admitted wryly. "It is her gift. She understands people."_

_It is why I love her, he added silently to himself. She is the only person who has ever really understood me. Only she would have taken the gamble that I would trust in her love for me, which was the only way that this plot could have worked._

"_What did she promise him?" Zan asked, realizing that he should perhaps be a little worried about it. He would not have blamed Khivar for asking for the moon and stars, but it was more likely that what the king of Sardica wanted was a little closer to home._

"_That's the truly amazing thing," Rath said. "She promised him nothing. He only wants to please her." He eyed Zan, his respect obvious. "She is a very great asset to any king, brother. You have chosen wisely."_

_Zan frowned slightly. He was not entirely convinced that Khivar had not asked anything of Rowena. He would wait to find out what her former betrothed wanted directly from her._

_Rath continued his explanation, obviously unaware of Zan's wariness. "My shuttle was intercepted when we passed Sardica, on our way back from Knosis. It was then sent on to Valonia on auto-pilot, where Khivar's fleet awaited it. It was destroyed, but no life was lost."_

"_Well, thank the stars for that," Zan replied. "So what is the plan now?"_

"_The goal was to take the clone out of play. Now that you have been arrested and dethroned, the shapeshifters can no longer use the clone to manipulate the council. They will have to use a different tactic."_

"_Very smart," Zan decided. "They will either have to expose themselves, or the Knosians will have to become their official mouth-piece. The enemy will no longer be hidden. The greatest weapon of the Wendarian - the shadows - has been taken away. Their neutrality will have to be compromised, should they continue with this folly." He paused, then added, "I still want the clone destroyed. And all the technology that was used to create him with it." He knew that this would upset Rowena, but there was no choice. As long as the possibility of clones existed, there would always be someone willing to take advantage of it to further their own ends._

_And, yet, Zan could not help a pang. He remembered Serena's comment that she could clone Vilandra. Oh, to have his sister returned to him! And Kara too._

"_Obviously," Rath replied. "Rowena will deal with him when she returns to the planet. He is confined to the same cell in which you and Rowena were imprisoned."_

_Zan frowned at this. He felt a slight shiver descend his spine. He did not like the thought of Rowena facing the clone on her own. "I would speak to her before she returns to Valonia."_

"_No, Zan. It cannot be," Rath said seriously. "This plan will not work unless the utmost secrecy is maintained. No one can know that I survive, and no one can know that Khivar has staged your arrest. If you see Rowena, suspicions will be aroused."_

"_I suppose I will have to accept that," Zan said, although he still felt uneasy. "What of Serena? Is she to be told any of this?"_

_There was a long moment of silence. Rath met his gaze steadily. "Zan, you know what must become of Serena."_

_Zan blinked. "What? No! She is innocent. I refuse to allow it."_

"_Zan, there is no choice! All material that could illuminate the cloning process must be destroyed. You just said so yourself. We must eradicate the threat of it, once and for all."_

_Zan lowered himself into a chair, his heart pounding unsteadily. "Rath…We cannot. It is wrong."_

"_And cloning is not?" Rath snapped. "It is taking life into our hands. It is not our place."_

"_She promised to bring back Vivi," Zan whispered. He met Rath's eyes, realizing that he wanted Serena's survival for more reasons than just the Rowena clone's life. Maybe he was not entirely capable of throwing away such technology after all. "My brother, think of it. Your wife could be returned to you."_

"_No, Zan. You yourself should know that a clone is not the person who has been lost. Serena and Rowena are not the same. You are not the same as your clone. It would not be Vilandra. It would be someone else."_

_Zan knew that Rath was right, but how could they do it? How could they destroy a complete innocent? _

_Well, perhaps Serena was not completely innocent, Zan admitted to himself. She had, after all, perpetrated a fraud on Khivar for months. But she was good at heart. She had recognized her mistake. She could be reformed._

_It would be wrong not to give her the chance._

"_Zan." Zan did not look at Rath. He was too overcome by the implications of what completely destroying the cloning technology meant. It would not all be to the good. They needed to reflect on this further, needed not to act hastily._

"_Zan!"_

_Zan blinked, looked at his friend._

"_I understand your compassion. Believe me. I do," Rath said quietly. "I have not trusted Serena, but I do not think she is entirely bad. In fact, I know that she wants to make amends for what she has done to Khivar."_

_Zan frowned. "What do you mean?"_

"_Zan, she has been in on this all along. Who do you think arranged the meeting between Khivar and Rowena? Serena admitted the truth to Khivar before she came to you."_

"_I don't understand." He stared at Rath. "Are you saying that all of the strategy was a ruse?"_

_Rath sighed. "Yes, brother. After she saw what your clone did to Vi, and Karana, and Jondar, she knew that there was no choice but to rid the system of all the fruits of Rowena's manipulation of the granolith."_

_Zan's eyes widened. "Including herself," he whispered, disbelieving that any person could be so self-sacrificing._

"_Yes," Rath agreed, lowering his gaze. "Including herself."_


	60. Chapter 60

Part 60

The shapeshifter was brought to the presence chamber. It was the first time Kate had seen the being, who was Grant Sorenson on Earth, conscious in this reality. He had a collar around his neck, but, other than a guard behind him, he was unfettered.

They were all there. Jack and Tess were seated at the table, Michael standing behind Tess's chair. Kate had chosen a couch behind where Will stood at the head of the table, so that she could watch the shapeshifter's face while he was interrogated. He was still wearing Will's (or, rather, Khivar's) face, and Kate felt Isabel flinch beside her. She glanced at her friend, and could see from the expression on the other girl's face that she wasn't quite as comfortable with this scenario as she had told Will she would be.

"Why does he still look like that?" Isabel asked Kate in an undertone. "Can't we make him shift?"

"I thought you were okay with this," Kate whispered back.

"I thought I was," Isabel replied. "I guess I just didn't expect him to still look like Khivar." She swallowed visibly. "I didn't like how I felt with him. I don't like being out of control like that. Why hasn't he changed?"

Kate reached out and patted Isabel's hand, which sat between them. "He can't touch you." She paused, then added, "And you know he won't hurt you. He loves you."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Isabel whispered.

Kate shot her a sympathetic look, but returned her attention to the shapeshifter. After all, Isabel had chosen to be in the room. They all had. No one wanted to miss anything that this enemy might reveal.

The shapeshifter - Kate would think of him as Grant from now on because it was just easiest - reached up and touched the collar around his neck. He was looking at Isabel, but he addressed Will. "Can you take this off me? I think that I should shift. The princess seems uncomfortable."

"No," Will replied firmly. He glanced at Isabel too. "I'm sorry, but that collar is there for a reason. He can't be trusted with it off. It keeps him from shapeshifting."

"It doesn't seem very smart for him to look like you," Michael commented. "What if he gets free or something? It could really mess things up."

"I'm not going anywhere," Grant interjected. "You have brought me here for a reason, and I'm going to honour that." He was no longer looking at Isabel. "It's the least I can do."

"Very well," Will sighed. He nodded at the guard standing behind Grant, who touched his belt. The collar stopped glowing.

Grant immediately raised his hand. It burned brightly for a moment, making Kate look away. When she looked back, the shapeshifter had taken on another alien form. She wondered if Isabel was seeing him as Grant Sorenson, or had he taken a new face in his human form?

She glanced at Isabel, whose lips were now pressed together. "Thank you," she said curtly.

"Why am I here?" Grant asked, after several tense moments of silence.

"Because you impersonated me," Will snapped. "You dallied with Princess Vilandra's heart. You are going to be punished for it."

The shapeshifter frowned. "That's not what I meant," he said. "I want to know why you've brought me into the granolith. What's going on in here?"

Kate blinked in surprise. "Wait a minute," she said, before she thought better of it. "How do you know about the granolith?"

Grant looked at her, seemingly surprised. "Everything. As far as I know we're in it," he replied. "None of you came back out. I'm not in the pod chamber anymore, so obviously I'm in it with you." He glanced around, expressionless. "Oddly, on a star-ship," he added. "Again, what is going on in here?"

Kate looked at Will, who seemed just as surprised as Grant. "I don't get it," he finally admitted. "You've already been to Earth?"

"Of course," Grant replied. "Haven't you?" He abruptly looked wary.

"Well, we assumed that in this world, no," Michael said, sounding annoyed. "Although we all remember who we are on Earth." He rolled his eyes. "Okay, what the hell? Is any of this ever going to make sense? What the hell are we all doing here anyway?"

There was another long silence, then Grant asked, "Don't you all know yet?"

"Don't you?" Tess demanded.

"I don't know anything," Grant admitted. "It was Serena who wanted you all in here."

"Why are you here though?" Isabel asked quietly.

Grant shrugged. "I'm assuming because you needed me."

"I don't get it," Michael admitted. Kate reflected that she was in complete agreement with him. She didn't understand any of this.

"Okay, we need to figure this out," Isabel said. "If we're not here to change things, and if Grant got pulled in here for some reason, why are we here?"

"I think the main question is, where is here anyway?" Jack spoke up for the first time, sounding aggravated. He looked at Kate. "Katie, I think it's time for you to tell what you think you know."

Everyone turned to look at her. Kate sighed. "I might be wrong," she protested.

"Who cares?" Michael exclaimed. "Any theory is better than nothing at this point."

"Okay," Kate conceded. She paused, glancing at Will, then explained, "I think we're here to learn things about ourselves. And until we accept them, we can't go back."

"I thought we already did that," Michael said. "When we brought you back."

"Maybe," Kate said. "But I guess there was more."

"Well, I know all I need to know," Michael stated. "I hate it here. The end."

"See, I think that's part of it," Kate elaborated, smiling in spite of herself. Michael's reactions were always so extreme. It was a characteristic about him she was beginning to enjoy. "I think we all need to figure out where we belong." She paused, then decided just to say it all. It was going to come out anyway. "I think there's a reason that some of us are seeing everyone as humans, and some of us aren't. I think that the granolith is helping us to understand where we belong."

"Is that all this is?" Isabel asked, sounding frustrated. She waved her hand in the air. "Some elaborate dream?"

"I don't know," Kate replied. "I really don't. But I think we're being allowed to experience what it will be like back home. If we go, I mean. So that we know."

"But why is _he_ here?" Tess asked, nodding towards Grant. "Shouldn't he know?"

"Maybe the granolith is just playing along with us?" Jack suggested. "When we thought that we were reliving things, we did some things differently. We were trying to fix things." He looked at Michael. "When you went to interfere with the shapeshifter seducing Vilandra, you changed things. You brought him into the story at a point the granolith wasn't expecting, so it had to go get him."

"That actually makes sense," Isabel said. "When I was living as Vilandra, I knew how I felt about who I thought was Khivar, but I never actually saw him here."

"I still don't get it," Tess admitted.

"I think what Jack is trying to say is that Grant's essence isn't in here. So the granolith had to go get him when we needed him to play a role in what we were doing."

"So he isn't on Earth anymore?" Tess asked.

"Who knows?" Grant said. "I guess we won't know anything until we get out of here."

"What I don't get is why we're still here," Michael interjected. "Whether we've admitted it or not, I think we all know where we belong. I belong on Earth with Maria." He looked around challengingly. "What about the rest of you? Maybe if we just say it, the damn thing will let us go home."

Silence greeted this pronouncement. Kate could sense the reluctance of anyone to make any commitment one way or the other. Their confusion was only becoming more pronounced by the second.

"Well?" Michael urged.

"I don't think it's a good idea for any of us to discuss this without Max and Liz," Tess finally said, when the quiet became increasingly uncomfortable.

"I agree," Isabel said quietly. Kate realized that she was looking at _her_. She shifted slightly, wondering what the other girl was thinking.

Michael sighed in frustration, but he didn't argue. "How much longer?" he demanded, looking at Will.

"We should be there within the hour," Will replied.

"Fine," Michael growled. He looked at Grant suspiciously, "So, what? Are we putting him back in the cell?"

"I don't know what purpose it would serve," Will said. "Like he said, he's not going anywhere. He's here for us at this point."

"It would serve the purpose of making me happy," Michael muttered. "I don't trust him."

"I don't blame you, Michael," Grant said calmly. "But I have nowhere to go, and I would like to learn where this is leading. I am just as in the dark as you all."

Kate narrowed her eyes. She wasn't sure why, but she realized that she didn't believe him. She suspected that the shapeshifter knew a whole lot more about this than he was letting on. She didn't have time to think about it thought, because she felt a hand on her arm.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Kate looked at Isabel, surprised.

"Sure," she said. She waited expectantly.

"Alone," Isabel added, nodding towards the door.

"Okay."

Moments later, they were standing in the corridor. Kate could feel her heart pounding. She realized that she was nervous, mainly because she suspected that she knew what Isabel wanted to talk about.

She was proven right when the other girl spoke, "I need to know, Kate. Are you seeing aliens or humans?"

Kate lowered her eyes. The moment of truth was upon her. The irony was that it was her own fault that Isabel wanted to know. She was the one who had tried to explain what it meant after all. She was possibly wrong, but if she was right, there was no use in denying it.

"Aliens," she admitted softly.

"What about Alex?" Isabel demanded.

Kate looked up. "I don't know," she admitted.

"That's not good enough," Isabel replied firmly. "He can't be hurt again, Kate. He just can't. It's not fair to him!"

Kate scowled. She was beginning to get annoyed. She understood where Isabel was coming from. She was worried about Alex, too. But Isabel was certainly in no position to judge Kate regarding hurting him. She was the one who had started this whole fiasco in the first place by not realizing how she really felt about him until he had moved on.

If Isabel had not been so self-absorbed, Kate never would have had a chance with Alex. None of this would have ever happened. She wouldn't feel this way, and she wouldn't know that she was going to hurt him.

Even worse, she wouldn't know absolutely that she was going to miss him so much she might not recover.

"I don't want to hurt him," Kate managed to say. Her voice sounded slightly strangled. "That's the last thing I want. But some things just aren't meant to be."

"But they can be," Isabel argued. "If you really wanted him, you could have him. You don't _have_ to go back."

Kate stared at her. "But then you can't have him, Isabel."

Isabel's large alien eyes filled with tears. "He doesn't want me anymore, anyway. I just want him to be happy. He should be happy. I can't bear for him to be hurt again. I just can't. He just doesn't deserve it. It's not fair."

"No, it's not," Kate agreed. Her anger had drained away. There was no point to it after all. They were in agreement. It was completely unacceptable that Alex was going to again be caught in the alien crossfire.

But, with every passing moment, Kate knew with more certainty that it was going to be unavoidable.

"Maybe it will all work out," Isabel suggested, sounding hopeless. "Somehow. It just has to work out. All you have to do is choose him, Kate."

"I have chosen him," Kate explained patiently. "That's not the problem. The problem is that I don't think he's really chosen me. Even if he thinks he has, I have a feeling that I'm never going to really believe it. Not after all the time I've spent with you. Now that I know _you_."

"What do I have to do with it?" Isabel asked. "That makes no sense."

"Isabel, please," Kate pleaded. "It's you he wants. He's denying it to himself now, because he doesn't want to be rejected again, but if he could have had you before, he never would have even looked twice at me."

"That's not true," Isabel argued. "It's not true at all."

"It is true," Kate replied quietly. "And we both know it. And it's what the granolith is telling me by making me know that I am an alien. I don't belong on Earth."

"I'm an alien too," Isabel said.

"No, Isabel, you're not," Kate answered. "Not really. You were raised human. It's the identity you've chosen for yourself. If it wasn't, you'd be seeing aliens here too."

"Don't you think you should both let Alex decide what's best for him?"

Both girls turned their heads in surprise. Michael was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. He had obviously been there for a while. The exchange between Isabel and Kate had been so intent, they hadn't even noticed him.

"Michael! This is a private conversation," Isabel flared.

"Whatever," Michael replied. "My point is still valid. The guy deserves a say. We don't even know what any of this means," he added. He looked right at Kate. "You might end up staying on Earth, no matter what you think we're doing here. And then what?"

"I don't know," Kate admitted.

"None of us know anything," Michael reminded them. "So what's the point of even talking about it? Let it go for now. Alex will still be there when we're done here." He paused, then said, "I'm starving."

And, with that, he walked away.

Kate stared after him in consternation. What if he was right? What if she was throwing away the possibility of a future with Alex, just because she suspected that she wasn't going to be on Earth for long after they were done here? What if that wasn't true? Could she just step aside and watch Alex and Isabel reunite? Because if they did stay on Earth, she didn't doubt that she and Jack and Will would stay close to the Roswellians. After all, at this point, what choice did they have?

This was turning into a huge mess.

"I know you're scared."

Kate looked at Isabel, who was watching her, not Michael.

"I was scared, and I lost him," Isabel continued quietly. "Don't give him up unless you're really sure, Kate. Because you'll regret it."

Isabel turned and went back into the presence chamber, leaving Kate to stare after her.


	61. Chapter 61

Part 61

"_What's happening?" Zan demanded, rising quickly when Khivar entered the chamber in which he was isolated with Rath. It had been several hours since the "usurpation" of his throne, and there had been no report from anyone about how the plan was progressing. He knew that Rowena must be back on Valonia by now, dealing with the Zan clone, and he could feel himself becoming more concerned by the minute, as each passed without any word._

_This confinement was nothing like the one he had shared with Rowena for weeks on Valonia. That had been something of an idyll, with no responsibility and no concern, because there was no way of knowing what was happening outside of their cell. This, however, was torture, because Zan had a very good idea of what might be occurring, and it was supremely frustrating to not be able to take an active hand in any of it._

_The plan absolutely depended on the shapeshifters not becoming aware of the alliance between Antar, Valonia, and Sardica though. Zan would master his impatience because it was a necessity. _

"_Serena and Ro are down on the planet," Khivar replied calmly. "I've sent my lieutenant, Nikkol, with them. He'll make sure that the clone is destroyed."_

"_Serena went too?" Zan asked. He narrowed his eyes, examining Khivar intently. In spite of what Rath had told him - that Khivar was going along with the plan and that he had no expectation of any kind of reward - Zan realized that he still did not entirely trust him. "You do know that she plans to have herself destroyed when this is all over?" He was harsh on purpose, wanting Khivar's real reaction to the news._

"_I know," Khivar said. He remained expressionless. "It is her choice, of course."_

"_But you don't expect it?" Zan asked. "You don't demand it?" _

_Khivar sighed wearily, his mask disappearing. He dropped into a chair, then propped his head on his hand. "It is her choice," he repeated._

"_I think it is a mistake. You should stop her," Zan insisted. "She is your wife."_

_Khivar did not answer. He just lowered his gaze, no longer hiding how difficult this entire situation was for him._

"_I am sorry about all of this," Zan said, his tone less confrontational. "I hope you know that Rowena and I did not plan what happened."_

"_I know it," Khivar replied. He looked up, his expression fierce. "Love is not something that can be controlled."_

_Rath, who had been sitting quietly, snorted at this. When Zan and Khivar both looked at him, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I just really do not understand why love has suddenly become intertwined with marriage. Men of your status have never married for love. It is just not our way. Marriage is meant to be a contract. It is to solidify alliances"_

"_But it should not be," Zan replied firmly. "Real marriage of the mind and soul can never be about anything but love. I hope that one day you will understand, brother." He felt a pang of sadness that Rath had obviously never loved Vilandra in the way she deserved to be loved, if he was so cavalier about the topic. No wonder his sister had been susceptible to the shapeshifter impersonating Khivar. It must have been a lonely marriage._

"_I will not," Rath snapped._

"_This is not a productive conversation," Khivar said. "What will be, will be. This fleet will arrive at Wendar in several hours. My ships maintain a course for Antar, as though we are preparing to deliver Zan for trial, so that they will remain unaware of the impending assault. We will use your sky army to take down their planet."_

_Zan frowned at this. "What is the point of all-out warfare against the Wendarians? There is no leader, and, so no one to surrender. We will have to destroy all of them if we destroy one."_

"_There is no leader like on our planets," Khivar reminded him, "But the delegate to the council can speak for the planet. We will threaten to destroy a city an hour until he admits their duplicity."_

_Zan stared at him. "I don't know about…"_

"_It will not come to that," Khivar assured him. "They will never sacrifice their people. One of the advantages to their communal lifestyle is that no life is taken for granted. They are all connected. They will not want to lose anyone."_

"_I hope you are right," Zan said. "Because I am not sure that I can allow the killing of innocents."_

"_None of them are innocent," Khivar replied. "If one is against us, they all are."_

"_Maybe that can change," Zan argued. "We must give the Wendarians the chance to try. In spite of their claims otherwise, there are leaders who have steered the race on this destructive course. We must allow those who would rebel against them the opportunity."_

_Khivar glanced at Rath, who was listening, still scowling. It made Zan uncomfortable. He had a feeling that his general was in complete agreement with Khivar, and he didn't particularly like it. While he wanted this conflict to end as much as the next person, the destruction of Wendar had never even crossed his mind as an alternative. Didn't this, in the end, make them no better than the Wendarians, who had arranged for the Zan clone to destroy Valonia?_

_Tense silence descended over the room. It represented how fragile the alliance between Sardica and Antar remained, and how far apart their ideals had become. It brought to Zan's mind another argument as to why Serena should be allowed to live. With Khivar married to her, the bonds that existed between she and Rowena could only strengthen the relationship between the two leading planets of the system. She could serve as a modifying influence on her husband, now that his sister - before her death, Karana had been Khivar's most trusted counselor - was gone._

_Zan knew that he would use this very argument when he tried to convince both Rath and, more importantly, Serena, that she should live. _

_This reflection was interrupted by a buzzer, signaling that someone was requesting entrance from outside the chamber._

"_Come in," Khivar called out, standing up._

_The door slid open, revealing a man in Sardican uniform. He was disheveled in a way that sent a chill down Zan's spine._

"_Nikkol," Khivar said, his tone surprised. "What are you doing here?"_

"_It is a blessing that my ship was able to catch the fleet." Khivar's general stepped quickly into the room, glancing at Zan. "I would speak to you alone, highness."_

"_Whatever is happening on Valonia is just as much my king's concern as Khivar's," Rath snapped, before Zan could say the same thing. "In fact, more so. He is _still_ high king, in spite of our ruse."_

_Nikkol grimaced, but nodded his assent. He continued, "I am sorry, highness." He paused, then added, "Highnesses," he amended. "There was more of a force awaiting us than we expected. The Valonian palace is over-run by shapeshifters."_

_Zan felt his heart stop. "Where is Rowena?" he demanded. He barely refrained from rushing forward and grabbing Nikkol by the front of his uniform. "Where is she?"_

"_Captured," Nikkol replied, lowering his gaze. "Or at least, that is probably what happened to them."_

"_You _left_ them there?" Khivar roared. "You left my wife and her sister in the hands of our enemies?" _

_Nikkol cringed. "It was completely unexpected, highness! Wendarians have never taken up arms. They work in the shadows. Before we knew what was happening, we were taken. It was the queen herself who told me to leave. She insisted. Very strenuously, might I add."_

"_I don't understand," Rath said. "If you were taken, how did you escape?"_

"_I didn't escape," Nikkol explained grimly. He swallowed, then raised his gaze. "I am here to deliver a message from Yorvin."_

"_Yorvin?" Khivar demanded. "Who by the stars is Yorvin?"_

"_The king of Wendar," Nikkol replied._

"_Wendar doesn't have a…" Khivar trailed off. He looked sharply at Zan. _

_Zan knew exactly what he was thinking, and he voiced it. "They have decided on their own to leave the shadows."_

"_Indeed," Khivar acknowledged. His flat tone seemed designed to hide the panic he was most likely feeling. Because, if he wasn't, then he was much stronger than Zan. _

_They had handed Rowena and Serena over into the very clutches of their enemies. They had overplayed their hand. Zan felt like kicking himself. They should have known that no operation as grandiose, as secretive, and as long-term as that being played out by the shapeshifters could have been defeated so quickly._

_This was far from over._

"_How did they know?" Rath almost yelled. "There is a traitor in our midst!"_

"_Peace, brother," Zan said quietly. He knew that Rath was right. It did not matter how long the shapeshifters had been conspiring. Rowena, Khivar, and Serena's plan had been a good one. The shapeshifters should never have suspected anything. Someone had supplied them with information. It was the only explanation._

_But there was no point in worrying about it now. Or at least not immediately. They had more important matters to address._

"_What do they want?" Zan asked, through gritted teeth._

"_They want the real abdication of both yourself and my king, and they want you to turn yourselves over to them," Nikkol replied dully. "They also want Ava."_

"_Ava?" Khivar sounded surprised. He was apparently as dismissive of the first option as Zan was, not even addressing it. Zan would never abdicate his throne. He would never betray his people that way. "Why?"_

"_I am sure that Knosis is still working the angles," Rath suggested, sounding disgusted. "My guess is that sweet little Ava is about to be made a pawn in another dynastic marriage." He glanced at Zan. "Which would not now be possible if you had just married her."_

_Zan frowned at him. "Rath, let that one go. It will never happen."_

"_You could still marry her," Rath insisted. "If you did, Knosis would have no cause to stay allied to Wendar. There would be no advantage in it for them. Their future queen would be our permanent partner through the unbreakable bonds of matrimony. It is what marriage is meant to do." He scowled at Zan. "Highness, this is _war_. You have no choice."_

_Zan stared at him. The truth of the matter was so undeniable, he was momentarily speechless._

"_I…I cannot," he finally managed to say._

"_Zan, you are king," Rath argued. "You must do what is best for your people. This is best. Rowena would agree."_

"_There has to be another way," he replied, trying to sound more certain than he felt._

"_There is not," Rath replied. Then, after a pause, he made the one argument that he must have known would irrevocably tilt the tables in his favour. "Zan, if you do not neutralize the Knosians by doing this, we will need to destroy Wendar. If you do this…" He trailed off, gentling his tone, "Zan, if you do this, it will be four planets allied against one. Four planets with strong leaders, firmly tied by unbreakable bonds. We will subdue Wendar with the aid of Knosis. With them, we will have an inside ally. They can maintain the illusion of being on Wendar's side. They will be able to take the planet with a minimum of bloodshed, because their fleet in Wendar's environs will not be suspected. Without them, we have no choice but to destroy this Yorvin's power base."_

_Zan stared at his closest advisor. He felt as though he was suffocating. The walls were closing in on him. Because, in his heart, he knew that Rath was right. It was a solid plan._

_The only way to have even a chance at saving Rowena was to betray her completely._

"_I cannot," he insisted. "I cannot do it."_

"_Zan, think." Rath's tone was pained. It did not make Zan feel any better to know that forcing him to do something so against his will was not pleasant for Rath. It was Rath's job. He was his advisor, his right hand. It meant more than being his best friend. For Rath's position to have any meaning, it had to. _

"_I am thinking," Zan snapped. "I am thinking about betraying the only woman I will ever love."_

"_What makes you think she has not already betrayed you?" _

_Zan turned his head, staring at Nikkol. Khivar's lieutenant took a step back at the fierce expression on Zan's face. "What are you daring to suggest?" Zan demanded._

"_I am sorry, highness," he said quickly, "But this all seems a little coincidental." He looked at Khivar, as though for guidance. "Do you not think so, my king? You have already been betrayed by the queen of Valonia. Why is it such a stretch that she has done the same thing to the high king?"_

"_I do not understand you, Nikkol," Khivar barked. "Speak more plainly."_

"_Who else could have betrayed our plan? Who else but Rowena? There is no other possible way the shapeshifters could have learned of it. She worked closely with them for years, designing the cloning process that allowed them to sow the seeds of discord in our system so completely. Why would anyone do such a thing, if not for gain of some sort? If not for deception? There is too much coincidence. It only makes sense that she is the guilty party."_

"_She did not betray me," Zan told him bluntly. "I know her."_

"_Maybe you do not," Nikkol replied. "Love can be blind, highness. Perhaps this is why royalty is not meant to marry for love." He sounded so smug, and so much like Rath, Zan wanted to pound him. He felt Rath's hand on his shoulder, as though his general had read his mind, which he most likely had._

"_Zan, think," Rath again pleaded. "As much as it pains me - she is, after all, my cousin - Nikkol is speaking sense here."_

"_You are very quick to turn on your own kin." Zan wrenched away from his friend, although he was beginning to wonder if Rath was truly that at all._

"_I am a realist, highness," Rath replied quietly. "You are the only one I trust implicitly. I trust _you_ to do the right thing, Zan."_

_Zan could feel the noose tightening. As angry, and as frustrated as it made him - as completely as he knew that Rowena had not betrayed him - marriage to Ava did seem like the only alternative left to him. It could mean saving the lives of millions of innocent Wendarians, who could not possibly have any awareness of this Yorvin's perfidy. The fact that Yorvin had openly named himself king, betraying the very culture of his people, had to mean that they were innocent. And, if it meant that, what choice did he have but to save them? They were his people too. He was high king. It was his job to protect them, even from their own kind._

_He looked at Khivar, hoping against hope that the king of Sardica would have another idea. That he too would acknowledge that Rowena could not have betrayed them. _

"_I am sorry," Khivar said softly. "As much as I believe that Rowena is innocent, and that there must be another explanation for how the shapeshifters found out, I do believe that your marriage to Ava would only strengthen our position. I believe that Rowena will understand."_

_Zan narrowed his gaze, as something occurred to him. "When Serena sacrifices her life to destroy the cloning technology, you will be free to marry Rowena. I will no longer be in the way."_

_Khivar frowned slightly, but he did not deny that this thought had also occurred to him. He remained quiet._

_Zan sighed, reaching up and rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. It did not signify. Whether Khivar had designs on Rowena in the future or not, he could not deny that his marriage to Ava now seemed unavoidable._

_The one argument both Rath and Khivar had used that Zan believed - that Rowena would understand - did not make his heart any lighter._

_In that instant, he had never hated his crown, and the responsibility it brought, more._

The fact that you don't really want to be king will make you a great one

_Rowena's words passed through his mind, sounding more like a bitter taunt than the benediction they had been at the time she had said them. Would she say the same if she knew what he was about to do?_

_He had lowered his gaze, as he struggled to accept that he really did have no choice left. Now, raising his eyes, he met Khivar's squarely._

"_Bring Ava," he said firmly. He turned toward the large window overlooking the star-pocked sky. "And bring a priest," he added softly._

_But his thoughts were already flying across the system to the one he loved, hoping that somehow, in some way, she would hear him._

Please forgive me


	62. Chapter 62

Part 62

_The marriage was accomplished quickly. It did not surprise Zan one bit that Rath was able to produce a priest on the ship. Since he had been fighting for this for days, of course he was ready when Zan finally agreed to it._

_He could barely look at Ava as she was brought to the bridge for the ceremony. But, finally, when Rath elbowed him sharply in the side, he forced himself to be kind. After all, it was not this girl's fault that she was a pawn in the game of kings. When his eyes finally lit on her, he felt a shudder descend his spine. He couldn't help it. She was not Rowena, this was wrong, and he literally felt sick as they exchanged the vows that bound them to each other until their deaths._

"_Thank you, your highness, for so honoring me," Ava whispered, as he lowered his head to bestow the kiss of peace upon her lips._

_He nodded tersely, still not meeting her eyes. "You have honored me."_

_He felt her grab his hand firmly, which so surprised him, he was forced to look at her more fully. "What is your will, my husband? My planet is now at your disposal."_

_Zan sighed. "We must contact your brother, at once," he replied quietly. He looked over his shoulder at Rath, who was finding it difficult to hide his satisfaction, although he was trying. "Hail Knosis," he ordered. "My wife must inform her people that this marriage is accomplished. We will then strategize our next move." _

"_As you wish, highness," Rath replied formally. _

_The irony of this was not lost on Zan, although he knew that Rath had not meant it to be so ringing. Because, of course, none of this was what he wished._

Zan sighed again, removing his hand from where Ava was still clutching it. "Khivar, Ava, and I will parlay with Aliander in my presence room." 

_He started to walk in that direction, grimacing when Ava called after him, "Zan?"_

_He closed his eyes briefly, swallowed, then returned to her side. "My apologies. I forgot myself for a moment there. This is all quite sudden." He offered her his arm, which she took, her eyes gleaming strangely._

"_Not so sudden," she reminded him, glancing at Rath._

"_No," Zan replied flatly. "I suppose not."_

_He met Rath's eyes then. He knew it was wrong, knew that his best friend had only convinced him to do this because it was the only thing to be done to save their system, and, yet, he also knew that he was going to blame Rath for this for the rest of his life. It was perhaps unfair - in fact, Zan knew it was - but he could not help it._

_Things would never be the same between them again. As he met his general's gaze fully for the first time since he had agreed to the marriage, he could see that Rath knew it too. But Rath had convinced him anyway, because he was an advisor first, and a friend second. It was the way it should be._

_And, yet, in some ways, it hurt more than losing Rowena would. Because, now, all because of this marriage, he was more alone than he had ever been before._

_With Knosis' commitment to their cause, Wendar was very quickly subdued. In fact, there was not a single shot fired. It did not surprise Zan overmuch to discover that most of that planet had no idea that a rogue Wendarian named Yorvin was attempting to conquer the system in their names. The Wendarian parliament was not entirely guiltless, Zan deduced, having not necessarily told Yorvin _not_ to interfere in the leadership of the other planets, but the fact that he had named himself king had not even been transmitted to them. They were mortified upon hearing this from Zan's faction, and quickly surrendered the planet to his control. _

_The final move would be to journey to Antar to have the Council of Five Planets restore Zan officially to his throne. It was, of course, a formality. He presently had the backing of the political bodies of Sardica, Knosis, and Wendar - a clear majority - but he wanted no dispute. And, so, to ensure that, their next move had to be to regain control of the Zan clone, bring him before the council in answer for his crimes, and to demonstrate that it was Zan who held the royal seal. When the Antarian councilor was able to legitimize him with the Zan clone next to him, the entire mess would be cleaned up once and for all._

_A price would have been paid for Yorvin the Wendarian's treachery. Far too many Valonians had died in the razing of that innocent planet. But, in the end, the system would return to the status quo, and the five planets would be allied even more strongly, and able to move towards the golden age long prophesied. _

_The next step to that end was why the Antarian Sky Army presently found itself returned to the atmosphere above Valonia. To regain control of the Zan clone, it was necessary - and now time - to deal with Yorvin directly._

_Zan stared down upon Rowena's planet, his expression blank. Rath stood next to him quietly, knowing that the time for his vocal counsel was past. Rath's aid had brought them to this point, but now it was up to Zan to play it out to the end._

_Because, in the end, he was the king, and it was his place to ensure the safety of all his subjects. The queen of Valonia was his subject. Nothing more, nothing less. It was Zan's duty to save her. Rath knew this, and he supported it. But he would also stand closely by to ensure that Zan did nothing to endanger the fragile alliance with Knosis….which basically meant that he did nothing to endanger his fragile bond with his new wife, Ava._

_That he did nothing foolish, like perhaps give up his throne to ensure Rowena's safety. Because Rath was no idiot. He knew it was a distinct possibility._

_Basically, Rath was no longer royal advisor. Instead, he was royal baby-sitter. It was what was. It was unnecessary, of course, but Rath was a great general because he never took anything for granted. He trusted Zan to do the right thing. But he was careful._

_He, as usual, had underestimated his king's resolve. Zan did not want to be king, but he would be a _good _ king anyway._

_From now on, it was all he was, after all. With the loss of any hope of Rowena, he was no longer a man anyway. And, so, he would be king._

_Zan did not expect any of this to take long - he hoped it would not - nor did he expect Yorvin to put up much of a fight. His cause was, after all, hopeless. He had lost the covert support of his planet. He had lost Knosis. He had nowhere to turn. _

_No, Zan did not doubt that the end of this disaster was near. But he did fear the fact that Yorvin now had nothing left to lose. Rowena and Serena's lives were in acute danger because of it. Yorvin had already broken from Wendarian culture and tradition to the point where he was practically unrecognizable as belonging to that race. Zan did not expect him to honor the strict code of his people - that all prisoners of war should be treated respectfully, and handed over unharmed if the Wendarian should prove defeated. This shapeshifter was not Wendarian in any true sense of the word. And, so, he was dangerous._

_The door to Zan's presence chamber slid open and Khivar entered, with Nikkol trailing behind. "Has he answered our hail?" Khivar asked, crossing the room and joining Zan at the window._

"_No," Zan replied curtly. _

"_It has been fifteen solar minutes," Rath informed the king of Sardica. "He has thirty to surrender."_

"_If we are forced to land ground assault troops, their lives will be worth nothing," Khivar said._

"_I know." Zan did not look at him. He continued to stare down at Valonia. The one place that, for a short time, he had been happy. The irony that he had been the most happy in his life in a prison cell did not escape him. He was still in a prison cell, but now a much larger one, and its walls were impenetrable._

The fact that you don't really want to be king will make you a great one._ Rowena's voice threaded its way through his mind, reminding him that even if they could not be together physically, she would always be with him._

_Ten more minutes passed without another word passing between the four men. It was so silent that when a beep, signaling a transmission, sounded into it, Zan's heart leapt into his throat._

_He closed his eyes briefly, then turned away from the window, toward the view-screen opposite. He took a deep breath, then nodded at Rath. His general leaned forward, touching something on the wall, which activated the viewer._

"_Your highness. I apologize for keeping you waiting." _

_Zan stared at his enemy, carefully maintaining an implacable expression. This shapeshifter could not know how important this was to him. That Rowena's safety was paramount to him. That he would, in fact, give this bastard whatever he wanted to ensure that she lived._

_Fortunately, it would not come to that._

"_I am sure that this is the least of your crimes, Yorvin," he finally replied mildly. "I requested visual confirmation of the queen of Valonia's health."_

"_She is here," Yorvin said. He glanced to the left. "My lady?"_

_Rowena appeared next to the shapeshifter. "Greetings, Zan." Her expression was serene. Zan smiled slightly to himself. He couldn't help it. Everything was going perfectly according to plan._

"_My lady. You are well?"_

"_Yes, your highness." She met his eyes directly, nodding sharply._

"_Very good."_

_Zan reached out, touching the com link on his desk. "Captain?"_

_The ship's captain's tinny voice responded immediately. "Yes, your highness?"_

"_Prepare for air assault upon the palace."_

_Zan heard Nikkol's sharp intake of breath. But it was only Rath who dared to grab him by the arm. "Zan, what are you doing?"_

"_Taking care of the problem," Zan replied simply. He looked back at Yorvin, who was staring at him, his expression taken aback. It had worked. He was completely caught off guard. "Yorvin of Wendar, you are hearby pronounced guilty of high treason. You are sentenced to death. May the gods have mercy upon your soul."_

_He hit the comm again. "Captain, fire. Now."_

"_Yes, your highness."_

_Zan turned away from the stony silence of the other three men. He returned to the window, his hands clasped behind his back, and watched, his expression blank once more, as a huge explosion appeared on the planet below._

Good-bye, my love.


	63. Chapter 63

Part 63

Liz lay curled up next to Max on the cot in their prison cell. She didn't know how long they had been there, but she knew that it had been for some time - several days at least, based on her sleep patterns. Max still had not woken up, and she was beginning to fear that he never would. At this point, she was beyond being afraid that they would never be found here. It didn't matter anyway. Until Max woke up, she wasn't going anywhere.

And, so, it was something of a dilemma when the door to the cell sprang open. But not a huge one, when she saw who it was. Tess, Isabel, and Michael were coming through the entrance.

Liz leapt off the bed, and into her sister's arms. "I'm so glad you're all right!" she exclaimed. "We were so worried about you." She pulled back, quickly hugging Isabel and Michael, the latter pretending to tolerate it, but Liz felt how hard he embraced her back. Michael had quite obviously been concerned about them. It made Liz smile, until she remembered that she had cause to be put out with Tess.

"What were you thinking, taking off like that?" she demanded of her sister. Her fear for Max over the past couple of days had dulled the thought of Tess, and how she had taken off to find Khivar, but now it all came rushing back.

Tess didn't seem concerned by her tone though. Instead, she smiled. "It all worked out for the best," she said, indicating where Liz had been lying when they came in. "I'm guessing the two of you found your way back to each other. Once you stopped being so stubborn."

Liz didn't reply, because obviously Tess had known what she was doing, and had, in fact, guessed Liz's own fears better than she had. She blushed slightly. "That's over now," she finally said. "I've accepted who and what I am, and what we are to each other. There's not point in denying it any longer." She paused, then added wryly, "Anyway, I've had plenty of time to think about it." She glanced back at Max worriedly.

"What's wrong with him?" Michael demanded. He was standing over the cot, staring down at his friend. Max had not stirred.

Liz quickly explained the situation. "He hasn't been conscious since," she sighed, her heart panging with concern. Tears came to her eyes unbidden, her worry crashing back, numbing the relief that they had been found by their friends. "I think he's reliving it all. Everything that happened to us," she elaborated, when she met Isabel's concerned gaze. "I did for a while, too, when I connected with him. I wasn't in there very long though."

"He'll come around," Michael told her, frowning. He didn't seem nearly as frightened as Liz felt. "It happened to Kate, too," he added. "She woke up when she died in our past lives. I bet that Maxwell will, too."

"But why them?" Tess asked. "Why are only the two of them really learning what happened to us all?"

Michael shrugged. "Who knows anything anymore? All I know is that I want out of this thing. This granolith has been nothing but trouble since we first laid eyes on it." He looked at Isabel, glaring slightly.

"It wasn't _my_ fault I found it," she snapped.

"No, but it _was_ your fault that you showed it to us," Michael snarked back.

Tess sighed heavily. "Can we please not argue? I think the best thing at this point is for us to move Max somewhere more comfortable. We'll just have to wait until he wakes up to find out what's going on."

"How did you know where to find us?" Liz asked Isabel and Tess. "What happened to Yorvin?"

Isabel shrugged. "We just came here, to the summer palace, because this was where Tess left you both. When we got here, there was no one around. Who's Yorvin?" she questioned.

"I told you about him," Tess reminded her impatiently. "He worked in the lab with Serena. He was involved in the cloning."

"It seems to me, he might be someone we want to find," Michael suggested. "I bet he can give us some answers."

"We should at least ask Grant about him," Isabel suggested.

"Grant?" Liz inquired, surprised.

"It's a long story," Isabel replied, rolling her eyes. She linked arms with Liz. "Let's get Max upstairs, and then we'll tell you all about it."

Kate watched Liz tap her fingers nervously on her thigh. She could tell that the other girl was anxious to return to Max, who was still lying comatose in a nearby chamber. But Liz knew that all of their heads were needed to figure out exactly how they were going to leave the granolith. Apparently reuniting all eight of them in one place had not been the answer, after all, because they were all still here, and nothing had changed.

They were all gathered, including Grant, to decipher whether it was Max's unconscious state holding them prisoner in the granolith, or whether it was still someone else. Tess was seated near Liz, which had quickly become her custom when they were together. Kate glanced at Will, who was standing near the one window in the room. He was staring at Liz, an unreadable expression on his face. Kate wrinkled her nose, then sighed, when she realized that Tess was eyeing Will, and had noticed this as well.

They were all reunited, but they still had a veritable mess on their hands. And Kate was pretty sure that Will's inability to completely give up on Liz was one of the reasons they were still here.

"Okay, so who has the problem now?" Michael demanded, glaring around at them all suspiciously. "Who hasn't learned what they're supposed to learn? Because I'm starting to get annoyed here."

"_Starting_?" Jack muttered, from where he was standing behind Kate's seat. "Is he kidding? He's permanently annoyed." Kate smiled to herself.

"It's probably because Max isn't awake," Tess suggested. "I mean, if he's doing what Kate was doing when she was out of it, we're not done here. He's finding out what happened to us, isn't he? So that it doesn't happen again?"

"And when he dies in his past life, he'll wake up," Isabel agreed. She glanced at Grant. "Isn't that right?"

There was a long pause. Kate frowned. The shapeshifter was grimacing slightly.

"Isn't that _right_?" Isabel demanded again, more forcefully this time.

"Well, I don't know exactly," Grant said. "I'm not the granolith expert, remember? That's Serena's department."

"But you know _something_," Michael snapped, leaning forward slightly, his expression menacing. "And you're going to tell us what it is right now."

"As I said, I don't know for sure," Grant insisted, lifting his hands, as though to ward Michael off. "But if you're right," he looked at Kate, "that you came out of your memory because you died, then we have a bit of a problem when it comes to Max."

"Why?" Liz asked. Kate could hear the slight tremor in her voice.

"You may have all been a little misled about the situation as it exists back on the _real_ Antar," Grant explained carefully.

"What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean?" Michael demanded fiercely.

Grant sighed. "Here's the thing. If Max isn't going to wake up until he dies as Zan, wherever he is, he's not going to wake up - ever."

Kate heard Liz gasp. She looked at her sharply. The other girl's long tapered, alien fingers (because this was, of course, how Kate saw her) were covering her mouth, as though holding in her fear. She was apparently the only one who understood what Grant was talking about, because everyone else was staring at Liz, too.

"Liz, what's wrong?" Tess asked, her concern obvious.

Liz closed her eyes briefly, a shudder running through her small form. "Don't you get it, guys?" she finally asked, her voice low. "If we're right, and Zan has to die for Max to wake up, Max isn't going to wake up, because he can't die as Zan." She opened her eyes, tears glimmering within them.

"But, why?" Isabel asked, her confusion obvious.

Liz was obviously too upset to continue though, so Grant finished for her.

"Because the first Zan never died," he said quietly.

_"Why did you do it?"_

_Zan did not turn at the sound of the voice. He knew he would be confronted eventually, and he had guessed that it would be by Khivar, but he had hoped it would not be so soon. He was still mourning the final loss of the only woman he would ever love._

_Now that it was done, she would be Khivar's, and there was nothing whatsoever that he could do about it._

_Zan was somewhat relieved, however, that Khivar had not killed him first, and asked questions later. It had been on his insistence that Khivar was not let in on the plan though. If it had resulted in Zan's death, it would have been worth it. He couldn't take the chance that the truth of what was planned for Valonia should leak._

_They still had a mole in their midst, and while Serena was convinced it was not Khivar, Zan could not be as certain._

_"I did what had to be done," Zan finally said. He still did not turn, but gazed down upon the burning palace. The inferno their ship's cannons had created was so immense, it could easily be seen from this height. _

_There was no way that anyone could have survived the assault._

_"You did it because you can't have her," Khivar said. His rage was barely leashed._

_"Not true," Zan replied quietly. "It was her choice, Khivar."_

_"It was Rowena's choice to die?" Khivar demanded. "You expect me to believe that? Rowena would never have abandoned her people by giving up her life."_

_"The woman who died down there has saved her people," Zan told him, finally turning from the window. "She has saved her sister."_

_He met Khivar's gaze. "I am telling you the truth, Khivar."_

_Khivar narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be searching Zan's face for something. Zan had no clue what, but the other man appeared to find it, because he said, "Tell me," as though he was now ready to listen._

_Zan touched the com on the wall. "You may join us now. It is done. Secrecy is no longer imperative."_

_"Yes, your highness," a voice on the other end replied._

_"Who was that?" Khivar demanded._

_"That was Edgen," Zan replied. "He is the shapeshifter Wendar's parliament sent to aid us in dealing with Yorvin."_

_"What? Wendar was in on this?" Rath demanded. Zan's general had remained quiet for far longer than Zan had ever expected, but now he exploded. "Zan, what is going on here?"_

_"No one could know," Zan explained, not the least bit guilty. "You were the one who insisted we had a traitor in our midst," he reminded Rath. "I could not trust anyone."_

_"Not even me?" Rath demanded. "You trusted _shapeshifters_ more than me?" He said it in anger, but Zan could tell he was hurt._

_Of course he was. But Rath wanted Zan to be a king. And, if that was Rath wanted, then it was what he was going to get. "I trust no one," Zan said firmly. "Not entirely. Not anymore." He met his best friend's eyes squarely. "You are the one who taught me this, Rath."_

_Rath stared at him, his mouth hanging open. But he said nothing more._

_The door finally slid open and Edgen entered. "All has gone according to plan, highness," he informed Zan. "The queen's shuttle should arrive at any moment."_

_Zan felt the gazes of Khivar, Rath, and Nikkol, who had said nothing to this point, swing back to him. "Good."_

_"What is going on here?" Khivar almost bellowed. "Whose shuttle, Zan?"_

_"Why Rowena's, of course," Zan replied. "The queen of Valonia is alive."_

_"Then…then…." He sputtered, pointing at the window, to indicate the destroyed palace below. "Who was that?"_

_Zan said nothing, waiting for Khivar to understand. Because he would. Of course, he would. There was only one possible answer._

_"It was Serena," Khivar finally said, sounding strangled. "You killed my wife."_

_Zan remained quiet. Because what was left to say? _

_"How?" Nikkol said, speaking for his king, who had collapsed into a nearby seat, his shock and dismay probably surprising even Khivar, himself._

_Because Serena had been his true wife, and he was only now realizing it. Zan felt a pang of sadness for the other king, but it had been Serena who had made the decision. In the end, it had been her choice._

_Zan looked at Edgen, who explained, "I am in command of a group of shapeshifters planet-side. They chose to return to the Wendarian fold when they understood that Yorvin was no longer acting with the support of our parliament. They spirited the queen away. Yorvin was told that it was Serena who had left, which as far as Yorvin was concerned, was no cause for concern. The queen's clone willingly took Queen Rowena's place in her cell."_

_"I do not understand," Khivar said, his pain apparent. "How could he have not known that Serena had betrayed him?"_

_This did not raise any alarms for one reason only - a reason that a disbelieving Zan had heard from Serena's own lips the week before, the one and only time he had communicated with her about any of this. The rest had been accomplished through Edgen. Zan remembered the conversation as he related the story to Khivar and the others._

"He does not know," Serena whispered, glancing over her shoulder, as though expecting to be interrupted at any time. "I am free, Zan. He thinks I am still on his side."

"How is that even possible?" Zan demanded. "Serena, you are both in danger. We are coming for you."

"You are coming for Rowena," Serena insisted. "I am staying. He will let her go, if he thinks that she is me."

"But why?" Zan shook his head, still not understanding.

"Your clone," Serena said softly. "He did not betray me."

Zan's eyes widened in amazement, as the truth finally dawned on him. "He loves you." Of course he did. Just as Rowena had been destined for Zan, in some strange way, Serena had been made for his clone. Rowena and Serena were the same. And just as Zan had found his soulmate in Rowena, so his clone had found his in hers.

It was almost miraculous, in a way. But the plan Serena devised from the miracle was not.

Because the one problem with all of this was that, for the plan Serena insisted on to work, she would have to die.

"Zan, there is no choice. Once Rowena is safe, you must do this. The cloning technology must be destroyed, once and for all. I am a remnant of it."

"Serena…"

"Zan, if you do not do it, I will kill myself anyway. Please do not make my death in vain."

He stared at her through the viewscreen, frowning slightly. He felt that something was off with all of this, but the expression on Serena's face was so fierce, he did not know how to refuse her, particularly after that last threat.

"Please…" He swallowed, looking away. Why did this feel so wrong?

"Zan." He looked back, meeting her large, dark eyes.

"Do this for me. You know that it is what must be. Be the king you have to be to end this once and for all."

There was a long pause as he absorbed this. "I trust you to do this, Zan," she whispered. She glanced over her shoulder again. "I lo…"

He stared at her, his eyes widening slightly. "I trust you," she repeated, interrupting whatever it was she had been about to say. "Be at peace, my king."

And, then, without allowing him another word, she was gone

_And, so, Zan had decided to proceed as she had requested. In those last moments, as he had met Serena's eyes while she stood next to Yorvin, waiting for death - as he watched her nod her readiness for him to proceed with the destruction of the palace - he could see that she was completely at peace with her decision. _

_He was still not entirely at peace with it, but it had been her choice. And it had ended it, once and for all._

_Complete silence greeted Zan when he finished talking. Because there was nothing left to say, after all. Zan had not wanted Serena to die, but she had been unwilling to compromise. This whole plan had been her idea and it had played out as she had willed it to, just as everything else had._

_Now she was gone, and none of them would ever be the same again._

_"My wife…"_

_Zan looked at Khivar. "Rowena still lives. You will have your betrothed wife," he said, each word like a dagger thrust into his heart. "She will marry you."_

_"But she will never love me," Khivar said sadly, finally meeting Zan's gaze again. "And we both know it. I have lost the only chance I ever had for that."_

_"You are not alone in this," Zan said softly._

_They were both kings, and in that instant, as they stared at each other, they both knew that the price for being a good king had been far steeper than either had ever anticipated._

_"I'd like to speak to you privately," Khivar eventually said. _

_Zan narrowed his eyes, but nodded at Rath, who frowned, but left without comment. Apparently he now trusted that his king would not abdicate his throne at the first provocation, Zan thought wryly, if somewhat bitterly._

_"We made a deal, you know," Khivar said, after Nikkol and Edgen followed Rath out._

_"You and Rowena?" Zan asked, because, of course he had always suspected this. When Khivar nodded, Zan guessed, "She agreed to marry you if you helped me take back my throne, didn't she?"_

_"No."_

_Zan blinked in surprise. "What then?"_

_"She gave me the cloning technology. I have it, Zan."_

_"What?" Zan exclaimed, staring at the other man. _

_"Serena never knew," Khivar said, staring off into space. "Obviously she did not. Or she would not have done this."_

_Zan could feel his anger mounting with every second. It had to be destroyed! If it wasn't, then Serena's death would have been for nothing. Zan managed to control himself though. It was obvious that Khivar finally understood this, or he would not be telling Zan about it now. "You know what must be done," he said firmly._

_Khivar looked at him. "It might be too late."_

_"Why?" Zan demanded. "I don't understand any of this. Why did you want it?"_

_"For Kara…and your sister," Khivar admitted. "They are to be brought back. My scientists have already commenced the work."_

_"But it will not be _them_!" Zan exclaimed. "You, better than anyone, should have understood this! A clone killed our sisters."_

_"You did not want Serena to die," Khivar reminded him. "Rath told me as much. You did not want the technology destroyed."_

_"Of course I did not, but I have to respect what she has done," Zan told him. "And Rath convinced me that were we to clone Vilandra, it would not be my sister. This is not what Serena wanted, Khivar."_

_"I know it, highness," Khivar said, his voice cracking slightly. "I know it now. But how can we not try? It is my sister!"_

_Zan raised a hand, rubbing his head wearily. "I understand why you have done what you have done, Khivar, but we must destroy the clones. I am assuming that they are not yet fully mature. It could not have happened so quickly. It has only been a little over three solar weeks since this all began."_

_"Perhaps." Khivar shrugged. "But I felt that you should know this."_

_Zan stared at him, a slight frown on his face. He felt that there was something Khivar was leaving out. He was not certain why, but the other man's tension had not faded in the way one would expect after such a confession._

_"There is more," he said. "What is it?"_

_Khivar looked at him, surprised. "I do not know…"_

Tell_ me."_

_"Zan, there is nothing else, I swear it. You may ask Nikkol. I put him in charge of the project."_

_Zan did not feel satisfied, but he finally sighed. "Very well. We will speak to Rowena of this, and let her decide. It was, after all, her sister who made this sacrifice."_

_"My wife," Khivar reminded him._

_"One you did not accept until her death," Zan snapped back._

_"My very grave mistake," Khivar said, lowering his gaze._

_Zan watched him for a moment. He could see that the other man's grief was genuine. "Do you still wish to marry Rowena?" he asked, unable to help himself. _

_"I do not know if she will have me," Khivar replied. "It may be best that we all return to our own homes to put them in order before making any other decisions of system-altering magnitude."_

_"That is wise," Zan told him. He was not sure why his heart lightened slightly. After all, it did not matter if Rowena married or not. He was not free and never would be again. And even if he should prove willing to dishonor his wedding vows to Ava, he knew that Rowena would not._

_A disturbance from the hallway outside the presence chamber made both kings start to their feet. "I will see him _now_," a familiar voice said, sounding furious._

_"Rowena, be sensible…" Rath was grabbing at his cousin as she came storming into the room. _

_She wrenched away and marched right up to Zan and slapped him across the face._

_"How could you?" she demanded. "How could you do it?"_

_Zan stared at her in astonishment. He did not know what to say. The last thing he had expected was such anger. Did Rowena not understand that it had been Serena's choice to stay on Valonia?_

_"Rowena…" Khivar stepped forward. "Zan did what had to be done."_

_"He _killed_ my sister!" she exclaimed. _

_"It was Serena's plan,"_

_"No, you fool! It was _Rowena's _plan!" she said, her voice dropping, and tears rushing into her eyes. "Zan, how could you do this?"_

_Zan felt his heart stop. He stared at her in horror. Because the truth of what had transpired down on that planet was only just becoming clear to him. The feeling that the plan was not right when Serena had convinced him of it came rushing back…_

_"That was not Serena I spoke to, was it?" he finally said. His tone was flat. He could barely manage the words._

_"No," she said, crumbling to her knees before him. "She did this. She did this to save me. She did this to save _you_ a lifetime of misery pining for her."_

_"What is happening here?" Rath demanded into the silence that was only broken by the sobs of the woman on the floor._

_"Rowena is dead," Zan replied blankly, before turning on his heel and walking out of the room. _


	64. Chapter 64

Part 64

After Grant's revelation that Max might never wake up, Liz had flown back to his side. She was half hysterical, absolutely determined that she was going to bring him back to her. She shook him, poked him, screamed at him. But nothing made any difference.

When she finally exhausted herself, she became aware of the fact that Tess and Isabel were in the room with her.

She crumbled in her sister's arms. "What are we going to do?" she sobbed. "We can't…we can't do any of this without him."

"You have to believe, Liz," Tess said softly. "You have to believe that the granolith brought us here for a reason, and that it will all work out."

Liz pulled back. "How can I?" she demanded. "Every single thing that happens seems designed to tear Max and I apart. How long can I be expected to believe?"

"As long as it takes. Because you love him," Tess replied. "And that fact always brings you back to each other. In spite of everything…in spite of the crash, in spite of every thing people, including me, have done to keep you apart, you always find your way back to each other. How can you believe any less now?"

Liz closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Her thoughts were in turmoil, but as Tess continued to stroke her hand, calming her down, she had a revelation. "I do," she finally whispered in amazement. "I do believe it."

In that moment, she understood exactly why Future Max and Liz had chosen i _I Shall Believe_ /i as their wedding song. Because it defined them. It defined Max and Liz - the belief that they would always find their way back to each other.

It had been a gift from those future versions of themselves, that song. A gift to remind her that even at the end of the world, they had believed in each other. That they would do anything to be together. Including tear themselves apart.

Because, here she was now, with not only Max, who lived, even if he was not awake, but also her sister, Tess - a sister she would never have known if it wasn't for Future Max. He had known enough to take the risk of destroying the night she and Max had been supposed to cement their love, because he had believed that it would all work out in the end.

They would always find their way back to each other. Because they believed it, it would happen.

Which meant that she could not give up now.

"I do," she whispered in amazement. "I do believe it." She felt a moment of shame that she had doubted again - that she had allowed herself even an instant of despair.

Max would come back to her. He always did. And she would wait patiently until the time was right.

_Zan spent the night in his quarters, staring unseeingly out the viewscreen at the great mass of stars surrounding Valonia. He did not grieve. He could not. His heart was broken. It had no feeling left. His heart - in fact, every part of him - was empty._

_No one dared disturb him during that horrible, blank night - the night he tried to accept that he would never see Rowena again. It was not until after many hours that his shock abated enough that he could try to understand why she had done it._

_Serena's words before her collapse replayed in his mind, damning him even more than the fact that he had in fact ordered his beloved's death._

"She did this to save _you_ a lifetime of misery pining for her."

_Rowena knew of his marriage to Ava, quite obviously. And she had seemingly known that, even though it had not been his intention, his concern would have always been for Rowena first, and his wife second. The marriage of convenience - the marriage which had returned him to his throne - still meant nothing to him. But it had meant something to Rowena._

_She could not stand in the way of it. She could not stand in the way of him being a great king. And, somehow, she had seemed to think that she would do so. That his love for her would preoccupy him, would drive him from his wife._

_How could she have ever thought that? How could she not have understood that the only reason he had for being a good king was because she believed he could be? He would not have betrayed Ava for Rowena, not only because Rowena would not have allowed it, but because she would have been disappointed in him. He could have been strong enough to make his marriage work, had he known that Rowena believed he would._

_She had not trusted him. She had not trusted him enough to be able to let her go. She had sacrificed herself. And, the sheer irony of it, was that now he knew he could not do it. Without her in his life, even on the periphery, he could not do this._

_It was then that the pain hit him, in great waves. Sobs rose within him, coming out in gasping breaths. It felt as though it would never stop. _

_How could he do any of this without her?_

_It took some time before he realized that he was no longer alone. As he came back to himself, he became aware of a small handing holding his. He knew it was Serena. With Rowena now gone, only Serena would dare approach him such a state._

"_I'm so sorry, Zan," she whispered. "It was not your fault. I know it. I am sorry I accused you."_

_He did not respond to this. They sat silently for several long moments. Finally he said, "Tell me exactly what happened." He needed to know everything. He needed to be able to envision his beloved's last hours of existence. He doubted it would make him feel better, but he needed to know._

"_She pretended to be me," Serena replied. "I was unconscious after we were captured, and by the time I woke up, she was already well in her role. Yorvin believed her. She was free on the planet, I was in a cell. I never saw her."_

"_And when Edgen's team came, they took you instead of Rowena," Zan finished for her._

"_Eventually, yes." She paused. "I attempted to make Rowena expose herself, but she refused."_

_Zan looked at her. "What do you mean?"_

_Serena closed her eyes. "She must have warned them I would try something. They healed me."_

_Zan stared. "You tried to harm yourself?"_

_Tears filled Serena's large eyes. "I knew that if I was gone, she'd have to return to you. We could not both be gone. Val…" She struggled to finish. "Valonia needs one of us." She lifted her arm. Zan felt his stomach lurch at the blood soaking the wedding scarf she still had twisted around her wrist. "But I do not think that I really thought it would end like that for me. I knew she would save me."_

"_Serena…" He shook his head. How had they reached such a point? How had things gone so incredibly awry? Why could Rowena not have trusted him enough to live?_

"_When Edgen's team came," Serena continued after a short pause, her voice stronger, "I did not know who they were, and I fought them. I thought they were going to execute me." She lowered her gaze. "I suppose I really did not want to die after all." Her voice cracked again. "She knew it. And she saved me by becoming me."_

_Zan brought his arm up, and pulled her close to his side. "No one had to die," he said stiffly. He felt more angry now, than anything. How could Rowena have done this? How could she have allowed this? How could she not trust that he would have saved both her and her sister? How could she not have trusted him to do what needed to be done for their worlds? _

_How could she have left him alone? And how could_ _she have made the decision to do so without telling him the truth?_

_This was perhaps what made him angriest - that she had pretended with him, too. She had pretended to be Serena, and she had made him part of the decision, and he had not known what he was doing._

_But was it any better that he had been willing to sacrifice Serena?_

_His anger faded. Rowena had known him better than he knew himself. He had been willing to let her sister die, and she had known it, and she could not allow it._

_In the end, she had saved him again. She had saved him from killing an innocent._

_And she had also saved him from destroying the one person who could put this all to rights._

"_What will we do now, Zan?" Serena asked, after another long silence_.

The cloning technology must be destroyed, once and for all.

_Rowena's final words came back to him, but he hardened himself against them. _

"_There is only one thing that can be done," Zan said grimly. "She has given us no choice."_

"_What?" Serena asked, sounding uncertain, and not a little afraid at his tone._

"_We are going to bring her back."_

"_This is yours, Zan."_

_Zan looked at the strange, organic mass that held another version of himself. It felt odd. He reached out, tracing the small form within. It looked different from a normal Antarian fetus. The head was much smaller, for one thing. But this was how the new strain of clones were supposed to look. The human DNA Serena had melded into the design would hopefully prevent the anomaly that had caused the psychosis in his last clone. Serena was sure that the great capability for love that humans demonstrated would stabilize the elements that had tainted that other Zan._

"_You are certain that they will survive the journey?" Zan asked._

"_Yes," Serena replied. "We have had visitors from Earth before. It is where we harvested the DNA." There was a long pause. "I still do not understand what you hope to accomplish by doing this," she finally said. It was not unexpected. She had been trying to turn him from his purpose for many weeks, but once his decision had been made, all the pieces had fallen quickly into place._

"_This is destined," Zan said firmly. He believed it. Because, when he had gone to Khivar after deciding on this course, it turned out that adding Rowena to the cloning mix would not be at all difficult._

_She had already been cloned. _

_It turned out Rowena had made a deal with Khivar after all, in her bid to assure his support of Zan. She had agreed to clone Khivar and herself, along with the Vilandra, Karana and Jondar replacements. _

_When Khivar had told Zan why, he had been somewhat dismayed, but had also understood the other king's thinking._

"I wanted proof," Khivar admitted. "I wanted a chance to prove that she was not meant for you. That if it happened all over again, the result could be very different." He looked down. "I wanted to show her that she and I could be happy together, if our clones were."

"But they will be different people," Zan reminded him. "The Rowena clone could end up with anyone." He did not admit that he thought Khivar was right. They would not end up with different people. But it would not be as Khivar hoped.

It did not matter the form. Rowena and Zan would always find each other.

"It worked once," Khivar shrugged. "I thought it might work again."

"With Serena." Zan understood. "She loves you."

"Yes," Khivar said quietly. "But I do not know if I can ever forgive her for her deceit. And, so, I suggested to Rowena that we make a fresh start."

_And, so, Rowena's resurrection had already been in progress. Not only that, but it had been with Rowena's blessing. Which for Zan, eradicated all that came after. Her request for the destruction of the cloning technology no longer meant anything. He thought now that it had just been her way to ensure that he went ahead with the razing of the Valonian palace - that had he known that "Serena" was wavering on that he might have chosen another way._

_He did not feel an ounce of guilt for going against Rowena's last wish. Because, in his heart, he did not believe that she would deny anyone the chance at a "fresh start," as Khivar termed it._

_In the end, though, it would not just be for those who had died. It would also be a new beginning for those who had been left behind to mourn. As stared at his own clone, he knew in his heart how it would play out. It did not matter if they were half human this time. His soul would find and embrace Rowena's every time._

_They would be together. It would be on a distant world, but he could not believe any less._

"_Will you give him the seal?" Rath asked Zan now. Zan's general stood nearby, staring at his own clone, a slight scowl on his face. He had not been particularly pleased by any of this, but he had gone along with it, mainly because he was happy that Zan was capable of making any decisions at all after Rowena's death. If cloning her - all of them - for life on some distant world meant that his king would be able to focus entirely on his marriage to Ava, and, as a result of that, the ruling of the system, rather than pining for his lost love, then he was all for it._

_Zan thought about it for a long moment. He gazed at the small human Zan, eventually shaking his head. "No. He will not be king. He will not have to make the choices I have."_

He will be free to live with his love, unhindered by duty and responsibility, _Zan thought with satisfaction. _His entire life will be like the few idyllic weeks I lived in a cell under the ground on Valonia.

_And, because this version of himself would be free, Zan of Antar could finally be king_.

Liz jerked awake when she felt movement next to her. When her eyes flew open, she found herself staring into Max's dark eyes. The relief that swept through her was so intense, she felt frozen. She had believed, but this did not mean that she had not worried. And, so, it was he who spoke first.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hi," she managed to reply, a smile breaking across her face. She leaned into him, kissing him gently on the lips. "Welcome back."

"I'm sorry," he said. "You must have been worried."

"I was," she admitted. "But I knew you'd be back."

"How?" he asked.

"Because I'll always come back to you," she replied simply. "So I thought it was about time that I trusted you to do the same."

He smiled, then kissed her on the forehead. Liz sighed, allowing herself to melt into him for a moment. She allowed herself to just _feel_ him, to absorb the fact that he was actually there with her, and no longer just physically.

"I have so much to tell you," he finally said into the stillness.

"I know," Liz replied. "Me too."

"Actually it's stuff I have to tell everyone," he admitted. "So why do I feel like I just want to stay here forever?"

"There's no rush," Liz told him. "Wait until you feel strong enough." She pulled back, searching his face anxiously. "How do you feel, by the way?"

Max sat up, bringing Liz along with him. "I feel great, actually." He grinned at her. Liz felt her heart contract.

"Well, I guess you probably won't need to sleep for a long time," Liz allowed, smiling slightly. "I'm pretty sure that Michael won't let you anyway. He's pretty anxious to get out of here."

"Why am I not surprised?" Max laughed. "But, no, I don't need any more sleep. I've been asleep for too long. And I'm not just talking about physically. It's time to finish this, once and for all."

Liz frowned. "You make it sound so easy, Max."

"It is," he replied with certainty. He kissed her again, still smiling. "This time, Liz, I really think it is."


	65. Chapter 65

Part 65

"Max is awake," Will said, as he entered Kate's quarters in the Valonian palace.

Kate looked up from the board she was examining, meeting Jack's gaze with surprise. They had been in the process of playing chess, with a gaming set they had uncovered in another room. The game meant to be played on the board was obviously slightly different, but not so much so that it was proving overly difficult to manage.

"Thank goodness," Kate said now, firmly and pointedly.

Her brother's expression remained neutral at the vocalizing of her relief. Kate still didn't know exactly what was going on in Will's head, but she knew it wasn't overwhelming joy that Max was back. She had guessed easily that, somewhere within him, he had been hoping that the king of Antar's clone would never regain consciousness, and he would be able to step into the void in Liz's life. It was Will's face Kate had been watching when Grant had announced that, because Zan had never died before they were cloned, Max might never wake up. While everyone else had been horrified beyond measure, Will's demeanor had been carefully blank. But his eyes…they had blazed with something that had made Kate entirely uncomfortable.

"Is he okay?" Jack asked, climbing to his feet.

"I don't know," Will replied. "Tess came to tell me. She didn't elaborate beyond saying that we were to all meet in an hour."

"Tess, huh?" Jack asked, smirking slightly.

"Shut up, Jack," Will shot back.

Jack looked at Kate, his grin widening. "I appear to have touched a nerve, Katie. Would you not agree?"

"Jack…" Kate trailed off warningly.

"There is nothing between Tess and me," Will said firmly, interrupting.

"Maybe not," Kate said carefully, since Will seemed willing to pursue the conversation. "But, Will, you do know that you and Liz…that's over. There's nothing there either?"

"I know it," Will snapped. "I'm not completely delusional."

There was a long pause. Kate glanced at Jack, whose expression was no longer amused. He appeared aware that he had opened a can of worms, and seemed somewhat ashamed. He raised his gaze to meet Kate's and grimaced.

"No," Kate replied soothingly. "I know you're not. You're a good person, Will. You won't stand in the way of what she wants. Of what she _needs_ to be happy."

"No, I won't," Will confirmed.

"Then why are we still here?" Kate asked softly. "Will, if Max is awake…why are we still stuck here?" She motioned around the room, knowing that Will would understand that she was referring to the granolith and not the Valonian palace.

Will met her eyes, scowling slightly, but he eventually lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry," he finally said abruptly, his voice cracking slightly. Kate watched with horror as his blue eyes shone with tears. She hurried across the room, throwing her arms around him. He buried his face in her neck. "I can't turn it off. I can't stop it. I want to - so badly. But I just can't. I _love_ her."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "Will, I am so sorry. But you're going to have to stop. You just _have_ to."

She knew, though, that this was easier said than done. And, until it was done, it seemed that none of them were going anywhere, whether Max Evans had returned to the land of the living or not.

"We're not going back to Antar," Max said. "We don't have to go back."

He proceeded to tell the group exactly what he had learned while he'd been asleep, down to the fact that the original Zan had never given him the seal, which meant he couldn't rule Antar. They did not belong back there. They belonged on Earth. Max was certain of it now, but he knew that it might take some time to convince the others.

Silence greeted his story when he was done. It was obvious from the varying expressions of shock, surprise, and dismay appearing on the faces around him, that this was not what anyone had expected to hear.

"Max, what about the message from our mother?" Isabel finally asked, sounding a little sad.

"What about it?" Max demanded. "We don't even know who that woman was, Iz. We do know that Nasedo wasn't working for us. I'm betting it was completely faked."

Somewhat habitually, Max looked at Tess, who scowled at him. "I didn't do it!" she exclaimed. "Max, I've already told you all that I know, and all that I did for him."

Max glanced at Liz, whose lips were pressed together disapprovingly. She didn't say anything though, just watched him. "Fine, that's all I needed to know," he said. "But you can't blame me for wondering."

Tess thought about this for a moment, then shrugged, sighing slightly. "I guess not," she admitted, even laughing a bit. "But I swear I didn't do it."

"So we're just rejecting it out of hand, then?" Isabel asked. "I mean, what if it _wasn't_ faked?"

"All I know is that I didn't meet our mother while I was gone," Max told her. "And we haven't met any mother the entire time we've been in here, have we? I don't think she existed anymore…exists…you know what I mean," he finally finished impatiently. This was all still somewhat confusing to discuss, what with all the doubles, and time periods they were dealing with.

Isabel looked at Grant. "You should know. Was our mother still alive when the ship was sent to Earth?"

"Yes," Grant said. "But I wouldn't have put it past Nasedo to have faked a message to force you back to Antar. It would have made his plot a lot easier if you'd just gone peacefully."

Max eyed him suspiciously. "Why did you tell us that Zan died? Why did you let us continue to believe that, when it wasn't true?"

"In every way that counted, he died," Grant shrugged. "He's dead now. So he wasn't dead when the ship left. What's the difference?"

"It's a _big_ difference!" Max exclaimed in annoyance. "Khivar is sitting on _my_ throne because he inherited it. Zan must have died without an heir by Ava, and he passed it to Khivar, because his sister was dead. Isn't that right?"

"Well, yes," Grant admitted. He raised his hands, as though to ward off Max's accusations. "Hey! Don't blame me for any of this! I told you, I just hitched along for the ride, because of Vilandra." He glanced at Isabel, who glared back at him, causing him to sigh heavily. "I wasn't involved in any of the upper level stuff. I knew he wasn't dead, of course. Everyone did. He was king. But most of the rest of them were gone, so when Edgen told me on the ship that we were supposed to look after you all until you could go back and recover the throne from Khivar, I believed him."

"You said most of them were, but that's not true either," Max snapped. "Zan, Rath, Serena, and Khivar were all still alive."

"Does Serena really count though? No one knew about her," Michael reminded Max. "I mean, Courtney didn't."

"True, but _he_ must have," Max insisted, meaning Grant. "She was the one who cloned us."

Grant sighed. "Fine, she wasn't dead. But Rath was. He died before the ship left."

Max blinked, surprised. "What? How?"

There was a long silence again. Max could see that Grant was struggling to figure out how to phrase it. Grant looked at Michael, who appeared interested, but only intellectually, not because he particularly cared. When he became aware of Grant's regard, he shrugged. "Hey, I'm alive now. Whatever happened to me back then is water under the bridge. Just tell us."

"He tried to stop the ship from leaving," Grant finally said. "He changed his mind about thinking it was a good idea. Nasedo killed him when he and Serena boarded it to retrieve the pods."

Max frowned thoughtfully. This wasn't completely foreign to what he knew about Rath from the time he had spent with him in the past, but it didn't sound quite right. He glanced at Michael, who shrugged again, obviously not remembering anything that would be helpful.

"I don't think that's what happened," Max said firmly. "Tell us the truth. It's time, Grant. We need to know everything."

"If you were supposed to know this, don't you think you would have stayed asleep long enough to find it out?" Grant shot back, more logically than Max cared to admit.

"It makes you look bad, doesn't it?" Liz asked, speaking up for the first time. She was seated behind Max, and had been listening quietly, but, as usual, she was much more in tune with the feelings of those around them than anyone else. Max watched Grant as she spoke, and could see a shudder run through the shapeshifter. As usual, Liz had hit the nail right on the head.

Grant seemed almost panicked now. The calm, cool, collected shapeshifter, who seemed to find a lot of this mostly amusing - who seemed to think it was funny that the eight of them spent most of their time uncertain if they were coming or going - was finally cracking.

And this wasn't just about what Isabel thought of him, Max realized. He hadn't looked at her again. He was _scared_ now.

"What happened?" Max demanded, refusing to reassure Grant until he knew exactly what they were dealing with.

Grant met his eyes for a long moment. Whatever he saw in them seemed to be the last straw. He collapsed into a nearby chair, his arms hanging limply beside him. He stared at the floor, unseeing, as he recounted Rath's final moments.

"He was supposed to come with us," Grant said quietly. "Rath and Serena were going to come with us. As Valonians, they could have survived on Earth without skins, so Zan and Khivar wanted them to go, and they agreed. That's why Serena was sent later, with Nicholas. They were chasing us. She was supposed to have been in control of the pods, and the granolith. They were supposed to settle you all into new lives here, and then go back."

"And?" Max prompted, when Grant stopped for a moment.

"Edgen didn't find out until the last minute, and he was furious. He felt like it was an insult to Wendar, that Zan didn't trust us to take care of things ourselves." He paused again, glancing at Michael, shaking his head slightly. "By the time Rath came onto the ship to take control, Edgen had convinced me that I would never have a chance with Vilandra on Earth if Rath was there to engineer your lives the way that Zan wanted them to go. And, then, when Rath came…he was his typical self. Rude, bullying, and refused to listen to anything anyone else said."

"So you killed him?" Isabel exclaimed in horror. "Because of _me_, you killed him?"

"I didn't," Grant insisted. "But Edgen did. And I didn't stop him. He sent Serena packing back to Antar with Rath's body, and told her to tell Zan that he would regret not trusting him. Then we left. We took the pods, and we left, came to Earth, and the rest you know. The crash happened. And I hid half of you from Edgen, because I had no idea what he was planning. By the time we got to Earth, he was almost as bad as Yorvin, convinced that the only the insults to Wendar would stop was if our planet took control of the system. Zan was right not to trust him entirely, and Edgen couldn't even see that. He started to plot against Zan, which was exactly what Zan had sent Rath to prevent."

"Good grief," Michael said into the silence that had fallen again. "That's a really crappy way to die for a general." He sounded almost disappointed, which if Max wasn't so angry, he might have found funny. "Shouldn't I have been more suspicious of Edgen? I mean, I'm suspicious of _everyone_!"

"Rath was Rath," Grant said. "He was suspicious of everyone, too, and he never hid it. He did things his way, like a bull in a china shop. He couldn't be inconspicuous about anything. Edgen knew what his presence on the mission meant. It meant that Zan didn't trust him. But Rath didn't deserve to die because of it. He was only doing what his king asked him to do. Edgen had no right to take the pods, and I had no right to let him. We proved Zan - and Rath - completely right."

"But Rath still died," Max said. "It didn't matter if he was right or not. He _died_."

"And I'm willing to go back to Antar and face trial for that," Grant replied. "I know now that I am just as responsible for it as Edgen was." Max watched him glance at Isabel to see how she took that. His sister's expression was still entirely disgusted. Grant sighed heavily.

"We haven't said so," Kate said, after everyone absorbed what Grant had told them, "But it's safe to assume that Edgen and Nasedo were one and the same?"

"Yes," Grant acknowledged.

"What I don't get is how the Knosians got wrapped up in all of this," Michael said. "If Serena did the cloning, why would she have gone along with throwing in Ava's DNA?"

"Remember, Whittaker told us that Nasedo made a deal with the Knosians," Liz said. She looked at Grant. "That must have come about after he killed Rath."

"It did," Grant acknowledged. "We went to Knosis before coming here." He looked at Tess. "That's why we had Knosians working for us in the cave. They were sent by Ava's planet to ensure her safety."

"But why?" Michael demanded. "The original Zan was married to Ava. They had their queen married to the high king. Why would they support someone who wanted to overthrow them both?"

"The Knosians are anything if not pragmatic," Grant replied wryly. "They didn't believe that Edgen's plot would succeed - the whole cloning thing was beyond their comprehension - but they weren't taking any chances either. If it did, they wanted a clone with Knosian blood on the throne. If the original Zan and Ava had had children, they would have switched sides again."

"Lovely," Michael muttered, rolling his eyes. "Real trustworthy people you come from," he said to Tess.

"Hey! It's not my fault!" Tess exclaimed. "Besides, I'm only half Knosian…or a quarter…" She trailed off. "Whatever. I'm not Knosian," she insisted. "I'm just…not."

"No, you're not," Liz agreed. "You're one of _us_." Max saw Tess' tension drain out of her at her sister's words. Liz stood, frowning at Michael. "None of us are them, Michael. None of what happened before matters for _us_, except so far as what's expected of us _now_. Can we please try to remember that?"

"Sorry," Michael said, holding up his hands. He looked at Tess. "I am sorry. I'm just frustrated, okay? I mean, what does it matter that we're learning all this? We're still stuck here!"

"Good point," Max said. "I think that, now, we need to just remind ourselves of what we do know, which is that we don't have to go back, because that was never what they meant for us to do. Grant has told us what he can about how we ended up so lost and alone on Earth. In some ways, the Crash was a good thing, because if it hadn't happened, Nasedo probably would have had us all back on Antar by now, and the civil war would never have ended."

The thought of that sent a shiver down Max's spine.

"Doesn't this all mean that there _isn't_ a civil war happening at all?" Isabel asked. "I mean, if we're not meant to go back, and Zan left his throne to Khivar, why would there be one?"

"I'm betting it's because not everyone was in agreement with Khivar taking over the high kingship," Max replied. "Remember what started this all in the first place. Planets jealous over other planets' influence. Knosis must not have been very happy about the Sardican king ruling over them when they had been equals for so long. Plus, they must have thought that they were finally gaining one over on Sardica by marrying their queen to Zan. If they had no children, they were no better off in the long run than they had ever been."

They all looked at Grant, who shrugged again. "I don't know much about what's going on back there. Only what…" He trailed off frowning, a strange look crossing his face.

"What?" Michael asked. "What's wrong?"

"I was going to say that I only know what Nasedo told me he'd learned from Ava's Knosian bodyguards," Grant replied. "But that doesn't really make a lot of sense. They've been on Earth almost as long as anyone. They didn't crash, and it took them a while to find Nasedo after we did, but they were with him for a long time."

"Maybe they were in contact with home?" Isabel suggested.

"Maybe," Grant conceded. "But if so, why didn't Nasedo know more?"

"He could have, and just didn't tell you," Liz said. "You've already said before that he didn't really trust you. That's why you killed Courtney, isn't it? To show that he could?"

"Yes," Grant said, lowering his gaze. "Something still seems wrong though."

"Nicholas was in touch with home," Kate said softly. "Maybe he was the one who knew. We already know that he worked with Nasedo, at least a bit."

It was the first time one of the Sardican members of their group had actually spoken throughout this. Max looked at her in surprise, realizing for the first time that Kate, Will, and Jack had all been strangely quiet throughout the entire conversation.

Max looked at Will. He felt strange about Will since waking up. He still didn't particularly like him, but he had respected his original, Khivar, while Max had been living Zan's life. Max knew that Will still wanted Liz, and that his sullen behavior now was likely linked to the fact that everything Max had told them about why the original Khivar went along with the cloning meant that he and Liz were not meant to be, from the very beginning, and his original had known it.

He was distracted by his musings on Will by Michael. "That's one thing I just don't get in all of this. If the real Khivar was still alive, and was king of Antar, why was Nicholas working with Nasedo at all?"

And, suddenly, as though Michael's question had suddenly jolted all the pieces of the puzzle into their proper places, Max blinked. Because, abruptly, he finally understood the one thing that Zan never had.

He knew who the traitor had been. The traitor who had betrayed Serena and Rowena on Valonia, and he led directly to their deaths. It was the same traitor now as it had been then.

The answer was so obvious, he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it before. It was the only thing that made any sense with what they knew about what Will, Kate, and Jack had been raised to believe. How could they have not realized it?

But, as Max met Will's gaze for the first time since he'd woken up, he understood that someone _had_ thought of it, and perhaps had not wanted to be disillusioned once more, so had said nothing.

"Because Nicholas was a traitor," Max said grimly, because Will needed to face reality. At this point, it was absolutely essential. "He has been betraying all of you all along, including the real Khivar."


	66. Chapter 66

Part 66

"So is that it?" Michael demanded into the silence that greeted Max's statement about Nicholas, and his seemingly now clear loyalty issues. "Is that why we're stuck here? To find out that the little weenie is responsible for everything?"

"If it was," Max replied, his gaze focused on Will, "We'd be home."

Liz grimaced, looking between Max and Will. She could see that her boyfriend's patience was reaching its limit when it came to dealing with his past life rival. Will was returning Max's stare stonily, his expression revealing nothing.

When Will finally spoke, his voice was flat. "So we're blaming me for this, are we? I'm the one who is keeping us here, because I can't accept that the one person I thought I could always count on was a traitor?"

The controlled tone with which he spoke sent a chill down Liz's spine. She wondered if she was the only one who understood that Will was not talking about Nicholas at all. Although the reasons were still unclear, Nicholas was the logical choice for who had to have been behind most of this. Even Will had to accept that.

No, it wasn't Nicholas that Will was talking about at all. And Liz knew it. She could tell that it was taking all his willpower not to look at her. She felt her heart break for him. Even though she knew that she did not love him, she did still feel a bond to him - whatever Rowena's connection had been to Khivar, it still existed between her and Will. It was not the romantic love that Will wanted, but it was something.

Liz knew that it would hurt to let it go. But it seemed that the only way that Will was ever going to accept any of this - which, by now, it seemed was the only way for them to get out of the granolith - was for her to break the bond completely.

Was this the only answer? Was she going to have to make him hate her? And, if so, how could she manage it, when she didn't even know why he felt so strongly about her? It couldn't all be about what Nicholas had told him she had meant to him in a past life. What was it that refused to let Will recognize that they barely knew each other - that he couldn't love her, because he didn't _know_ her?

"Will, no one's blaming you," Tess said softly.

"We aren't?" Michael demanded. "I think, in fact, that we…"

"Michael, shut up!" Tess exclaimed. "He can't help the way he feels. If he doesn't believe that it was Nicholas, then maybe we need to think about who else it could have been."

Will's brow was furrowed slightly, as he stared at Tess. "I never said I didn't think it was Nicholas," he finally said.

"Oh," Tess said, sounding surprised. The expression on her face indicated that perhaps Liz _was_ the only one who understood that Will's issue wasn't with Nicholas at all, but, rather, with Rowena. With Liz. But, as Liz met Kate's gaze across the room, she could see from the resigned look on Will's sister's face that Kate too understood exactly what was going on.

Tess seemed to catch the look exchanged between Liz and Kate, and she seemed to understand it, because she lowered her gaze. Liz frowned. Her sister's disappointment was palpable.

Oh dear Lord, Liz thought. What exactly happened between those two while they were alone together on Sardica? Were they all doomed to just repeat exactly what had happened in their last lives? Tess, like Serena, would pine for Will, who like Khivar, couldn't let go of the past. Max and Liz would be together, but with the knowledge, that had also been possessed by Zan and Rowena, that loving each other meant that they were hurting almost all the people they most cared about.

It was more than past time to take the bull by the horns, Liz thought, frustrated. The whole thing was just so stupid and unnecessary.

"Will, I need to talk to you," she said firmly. "Alone."

She didn't look at anyone else, including Max, before leaving the room. She expected Will to follow her. She wasn't quite sure how she would make him do so, if he decided not to, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

Much to her relief, when she turned around after the door had slid shut behind her, Will had indeed come with her.

"What is it going to take for you to get over this?" Liz demanded, pretending more anger than she actually felt. Mostly she just felt sorry for him.

"I _am_ over it," Will replied, sounding annoyed. "Why won't anyone believe me? Why won't this stupid thing believe me?" He didn't need to specify what stupid thing he was referring to. Liz knew it was the granolith.

"If that's true, then we wouldn't still be here," Liz reminded him.

Will eyed her for a long moment. "So it has to be me, right? It just has to be me, because no one else will admit that they're just as screwed up as I am."

"Will, you're not screwed up," Liz said, her tone more gentle. "It's not your fault. None of this is. You can't blame yourself for Nicholas' lies."

"I can't?" Will demanded, his tone fierce, his stony control finally slipping. "Are you sure? Because I do. I don't even know _why_ he betrayed us, but I do blame myself. If Khivar had inspired any kind of loyalty, none of this would have ever happened, would it? His wife wouldn't have betrayed him, and his general wouldn't have either. None of this happened to Zan, did it? Everything I've always believed - that _he_ was the evil one, the troublemaker - was one big, fat lie. So why can't I blame myself? For not knowing the truth, for not knowing that I was the bad guy. I was the one who worked with Nasedo. And now I'm the one who is trapping us all here." There was a long pause. "How can I not blame myself, Liz? Tell me how. Because if I knew, I wouldn't."

"Oh, Will." Liz stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him. She hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry."

He was stiff in her embrace. "I don't want you to feel sorry for me, Liz. That's the _last_ thing I want."

"I don't," Liz replied, pulling back, and looking up at him. "I don't feel sorry _for_ you. I just feel sorry that you don't understand anything. How can you not see it? How can you not see the loyalty and love Kate and Jack feel for you? How can you not see it, and know that it means so much more than what I - a stranger - or what Nicholas - who was never worth caring about, obviously - could ever offer you? And they aren't even the only ones. Tess, too. In the short time you spent with her in here, it's pretty obvious you put some kind of voodoo hex on her. I think she'd follow you to the ends of the universe, if you'd only let her. If you'd only give her a chance."

Will stared at her. "That makes no sense," he finally said. "We barely know each other."

"Will, you barely know me either , and, yet, you seem to think that we belong together. If that's so, why not Tess? You can't possibly tell me that you can't see it," Liz said, shaking her head. "Will, how blind can you possibly be? Why is it that you're so focused on what you can't have, and won't open your eyes to what you _do_ have? Why is that so hard for you?"

"I'm a king," Will said, shrugging slightly. "All I'm supposed to want is what's best for my people. And what I was always told was that it was you, Rowena. That is was my job to marry you - to love you - and unite our people."

"That's what Nicholas told you," Liz reminded him. "And I think it's pretty clear that everything he told you was a lie."

"But how can I know?" Will asked. "How can I ever know for sure?"

Liz sighed heavily, hugging Will again. "I don't know, Will, but you're going to have to figure it out. Please. You _have_ to."

"Liz, if we could just try…" Will said desperately. "Please. Just for a little while. If we could just try to make it work…I know that we could…"

She sighed again, leaning back and shaking her head, interrupting him before he embarrassed himself any further. "No, Will. I'm with Max. It's _Max_ I love." She reached up, placing her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to meet her eyes. He did, his blue-eyed gaze sullen. "I'm sorry."

"It's not fair," he said bitterly. "I never had a chance."

"I'm sorry," Liz said again, gently. She felt her heart contract at the tears in his eyes. He was breaking down. He wasn't going to be able to handle this. His entire being was so wrapped up in what he had been told they were supposed to be to each other. It was what had helped him survive the long years growing up on Earth. It was what he had known would help him rule the planet destined to be his. But none of it was real. And he couldn't accept it.

How did Liz know this? She could barely explain it to herself. All she knew was that she could _feel_ it. She felt connected to him as their gazes met. Not like she felt when she connected with Max, but she could read him, just by looking into his eyes. This was her gift. It was the gift that Rowena had bestowed upon her.

And, yet, in spite of all of this, she still found herself shocked by what happened next.

"I never had a chance," Will repeated, his tone fierce. "I deserve at least _one_ chance."

Liz gasped in astonishment as he pulled her towards him, and pressed his lips to hers.

It was the last thought of her own she knew, as she felt herself pulled into a connection with Will. It was a connection that she had not asked for, a connection over which she had no control. Not only that. It was a connection that made her see what Will was really capable of…a connection that frightened her more than anything she had yet experienced in all of this.

It was a connection that changed everything.

For, in it, she became what he could become. What, in another life, he _had_ become.

She became a monster capable of carrying out the end of a world.

Alex jerked awake, blinking frantically. He heaved a sigh of relief when he realized that he was still huddled against the wall in the silver cone of the granolith chamber. He had been in the middle of a nightmare about being sucked into the alien mixmaster, as Kyle had taken to calling it. His heart was still thundering in his chest.

As he came back to full awareness, he was surprised that he had managed to fall asleep at all. One would have thought that the idea of ceasing to exist, because your friends were in the process of changing the past, which could seriously screw the present, would be enough to keep a body awake. Apparently not. The stress of the mere idea must have knocked him out.

It took Alex a moment to understand what had woken him up. Glancing around the granolith chamber, he realized it hadn't been his nightmare.

The dull hum that had emanated from the granolith since Liz, Max, Isabel, and the others had activated it had ceased. Not only that. As he felt his just returning to normal heart start to speed up again, all the lights in the entire chamber extinguished themselves.

This could not be good. Not at all.

Maria was snoring softly against him. Alex nudged her awake.

"Mom, what? Five more minutes," she complained groggily.

"Maria, wake up," Alex ordered, impatiently. He didn't mean to be short with her, but he was trying to hide how freaked out he was. If he had thought he had known fear before, he was wrong. This fear - that the entire existence he knew - and, in spite of all his recent thoughts to the contrary, he _loved_ - was being threatened.

What would he do if he actually ended up on the outside? If what was going on in this granolith meant that he would be out of the alien abyss, once and for all? Not only that. He wouldn't even know about the existence of the alien abyss. For him, for Maria, for the sheriff, and for Kyle, it would be as though the aliens had never existed. They wouldn't remember them, and they'd never know them.

It was now, when he was actually threatened with losing his friends, with losing his membership in a very exclusive club, once and for all, that Alex finally understood.

He didn't want out at all. He and Maria had wondered earlier if they could stand being on the fringes, which being wholly human members of the "I know an alien" club meant for them. But now Alex knew the truth. If it was only going to be the fringes, then it was enough. Knowing Kate, and Isabel, and Max, and Michael….and, of course, most importantly, Liz…was more than worth all of the agony that went along with it.

"Alex, what's happening?" Maria whispered. Her fear was reflected in her voice, although it was so dark now, Alex could no longer see her face.

"I don't know," he replied honestly. He raised his voice. "Sheriff? Kyle?"

Alex heard someone snort somewhere to his left. It sounded like Kyle, and he was apparently sleeping, if his snoring was any indication. "Hey, Kyle!" he said again. When there was no answer, Alex reached out with his foot, connecting with Kyle's leg. Kyle snorted again, but seemed to awaken, because his breathing changed.

"What?" he muttered groggily.

"Where's your dad?" Alex asked.

There was a long pause. "Why's it so dark?" Kyle finally asked, sounding afraid. He didn't seem to want to answer the question about his father. Alex thought he understood why. Kyle obviously didn't know, and based on what had happened to Grant a few hours ago, a missing Sheriff Valenti was _not_ a good thing.

"Do you think it's started?" Maria asked softly, when neither she, nor Alex, knew what to say to Kyle. After all, they had no idea why it was so dark either.

"What?" Kyle demanded.

"The end," Maria said, tears in her voice. "I mean, everything changing. I don't want this. I don't want to forget them, Alex."

"We won't," Alex said sternly, knowing that he had to be the strong one. "We won't forget, Maria."

"But what if we do, Alex? What if we leave the granolith…because, I mean, we can't stay in here forever… and we forget them? I can't. I can't forget Liz…" She trailed off, then added softly, "Michael…" It was almost a lament, her pain at the idea was so great.

Alex brought his arm up, pulling Maria closely against him. "We won't," he said again, less certainly. Because he didn't know what to tell her to make her feel better. He didn't know what to tell Kyle, now that it seemed that both his father, and quite possibly the only person who could explain any of this, Whittaker, had been pulled into the granolith after Grant.

"We won't forget," he repeated more strongly. "We won't."

This seemed to reassure Maria, because she relaxed against him. "We won't," she agreed, her voice strengthening.

And it was just as those words passed her lips that Sheriff Valenti's voice sounded through the darkness.

"Kids! Kids, are you awake?"

Alex blinked as a dull light appeared on the wall across from him. It was door-shaped, and Alex realized it was the portal leading down to the room under the granolith had been opened. The sheriff stood framed in its light, having just opened it.

"Dad!" Kyle exclaimed, on his feet and across the chamber. "You're still here!"

"Of course," the sheriff replied, sounding surprised, until it dawned on him what the trio remaining in the granolith chamber must have believed. "I'm sorry, son. I was just below with the congresswoman."

Alex stood, pulling Maria up after him. "What happened to the lights, Sheriff?" he asked.

"The granolith turned itself off," the sheriff replied. "I guess it must have turned off the juice up here, too." He turned, calling down the staircase. "Can you hit the lights for up here, Serena?"

Moments later, the inverted cone was again emitting a faint glow.

"What do you mean the granolith turned itself off?" Maria asked, sounding a little panicked. "Why would it do that? Are they trapped in there now?"

The sheriff looked at her. "I'm sorry. I should have said so earlier. The granolith's done what it had to do. That's why it turned off. Serena, she knew. She woke me, and we went down to meet them."

Alex felt his heart stop, then leap with joy as it started pounding again. "Sheriff, are you saying what I think you're saying?" he asked, barely daring to breathe, in case he was disappointed.

"Yes, son," the sheriff acknowledged, with a wide grin. "They're back. Every single one of 'em. Safe and sound." He paused, then added, "At least physically."

Alex blinked. What was _that_ supposed to mean?

"Michael!" Maria almost screeched, apparently not catching the sheriff's last warning. She was already across the chamber and flying down the stairs before Alex even had a chance to catch his breath.

Kyle followed her, and the sheriff moved to do so as well, until he seemed to notice that Alex had not moved.

"Are you coming, Mr. Whitman?"

Alex stared at him, wondering why he had suddenly been hit by a wave of fear. He couldn't explain it, but he could _feel_ it. Something was wrong. His friends were back and, yet, he knew, absolutely, that this didn't necessarily mean that any of them were approaching a happy ending.

And, yet, he remembered his decision of several moments before. He had been given a second chance. He had not lost his friends. He could not let his fear rule him. Not anymore.

"I'm coming," he said firmly, following the sheriff into the light.


	67. Chapter 67

Part 67

"_I won't leave you!" _

_Liz heard the desperation in Max's words. She shook her head. "No, no, no. Max, you have to."_

_His eyes glittered slightly, as he stared down at her, his hands clutching her upper arms firmly. "If I'm successful, if I can do this, you and I won't exist. Not as we do now."_

"_Max, if you don't do this, we're going to die." She didn't stop to reflect on the fact that she was going to die either way. It was too late to stop that now. "Everyone will. Max, you have to do this. You have to try it."_

_There was a long pause. Their eyes met, sending a shiver down Liz's spine, just as their staring contests always had. God! How could this have happened to them? _

"_I'll never see you again," he said softly, her own pain reflected in his every word. And, so, his next words surprised her. "Thank you." _

"_For what?" Liz asked, struggling against her own tears._

"_For every kiss, every smile…" he trailed off sadly._

"_Max, I don't have any regrets," she said firmly. And she didn't. Not as they shared one last, desperate kiss. Not as she watched him disappear out of her life forever, sucked up into the granolith's cone. Not as she called after Max one last time, willing him to succeed._

_Not as she fell to her knees, waiting for _him_ to arrive._

_The ground shook beneath her. She started to shiver, but she kept her gaze focused on the spot where Max had last been. She knew it was going to be bad. But if she kept Max in mind - if she remembered that he would not fail her - she knew that this would not be the end. It would be an ending, but not their final one._

_She would see Max again. Not in this life, but in a better one._

_And, so, when he came into the pod chamber moments later, pulling his gloves off one at a time, then slapping them against his hands, Liz was ready for him._

"_Will." She acknowledged him quietly, climbing to her feet._

_Will stared at her, his gaze piercing down to her toes. For one long moment, she allowed herself to remember what he had been like as a boy, when she had first met him. But it did not last. It could not. The boy she remembered was completely gone._

"_Khivar," Will snapped eventually. "My name is Khivar."_

"_No, it's not," Liz said softly. "Kate didn't call you Khivar. Jack didn't."_

_Will didn't respond to this. He didn't even flinch. He merely advanced on her. Liz took one step back, but then stopped. She wasn't afraid. Not anymore. He had done his worst. He had earned his final revenge. But it would not be forever. Max would fix this._

"_Where is he?" Will growled, no affection left in those blue depths for her. Not any more._

"_Gone," she replied simply. "He isn't coming back."_

"_He deserted you in your most desperate hour, did he?" Will said, sounding smug. "And it's for this coward that you allowed me to destroy an entire planet, Rowena?"_

_Liz said nothing. She just watched him, which seemed to unsettle him._

"_What?" he yelled, his blue eyes blazing. "What? Are you trying to make me feel guilty, Rowena? Are you trying to pretend that this isn't all_ your _fault?"_

"_I'm not trying to do anything," Liz told him. "I'm just waiting for you to put me out of my misery."_

_He frowned slightly, advancing on her again. "Do you really think it would be as simple as that, Ro? That I would just kill you, and be done with it? You will not die this day."_

_Liz closed her eyes briefly, sighing. She had hoped, but she had hoped in vain. Will was completely gone, completely eaten up by his bitterness. She had known, but she had not accepted it until this moment. He was going to keep her alive, to torture her. She could bear it, for a little while. She could bear anything for a little while, as long as she knew that she and Max would eventually be together._

_When he changed things, he would come for her. He would save them all._

He tried once before,_ a small voice in the back of her mind taunted her._ He tried once before, and it didn't work.

_Liz quashed the voice ruthlessly. She would not give up on Max. She could not let go of her hope completely, or she would never survive this._

"_You are_ mine," _Will was saying. "You have always been mine, and you will always be." He was now so close to her, she had to lean her head back to see his face. She didn't protest when he reached a hand out to touch her face._

"_What did you do to your hair?" he asked inanely. "I hate it. You will let it grow back."_

_Again, she said nothing, merely glared at him._

"_You'll learn to appreciate me," he said. "When we go back to Antar, and we claim what is rightfully ours, you will forget all about him."_

"_I will never forget," Liz said. She barely refrained from spitting in his face. "I will never forget. You'd be best to just kill me now."_

"_You will," Will assured her. "You will."_

"_I won't," Liz replied firmly. _

_Will grabbed her by the arms, pulling her against him. "You will!" he yelled. "I will_ make _you." With that, he crushed his lips down on hers. Liz was tempted to bite him, but, instead, she chose to do the one thing that would entirely make him lose control._

_She was ready to go now. She knew it. She could not wait for Max. She was so tired. It was time to end this life, and trust in the one that Max was rebuilding for them._

"_Max…" she whispered against Will's lips. "Max!"_

_It was enough. She felt the red hot rage streak through him, knew that she had pushed him just far enough. She felt his intention pierce through her. He was going to break her neck…_

Max_! she sighed again, to herself, wanting her beloved on her mind when she died._

_The world was extinguished before she took her next breath_.

One moment Kate was standing nervously waiting for Liz to return with Will, trying not to look at Max pace, and ignoring the constant bickering between Isabel, Tess, and Michael. The next everything went blurry. She found herself staring at a silver wall that had not been in front of her before. The silence was deafening.

What had happened?

Blinking, Kate realized abruptly that she was back in the granolith chamber where they had started their adventure. Which meant that they were back on Earth. Which meant that Liz must have managed to get through to Will somehow.

She felt the return of the dull ache for her brother. He must have finally given up on any idea of a future with Liz, but Kate knew that it would not be easy for him to adjust. The entire center of his being had shifted. It would take time - and support from her - for him to be able to get over it.

However, in spite of this, Kate's relief was great. Finally they could move on. Finally they knew who they had been, and who they were meant to be now. Finally they knew their destiny, which was to simply live the new lives with which they had been gifted.

They all had a second chance. Kate didn't plan to waste one moment of hers.

For the first time since she had learned about how she had died, she felt a pang of hope. They were back on Earth. None of them needed to go back to Antar. Maybe…

Alex. His face flashed in front of her. She felt as though she could reach out and touch him. Because, suddenly, soon she'd again be able to.

Kate closed her eyes, the thought of Isabel passing through her mind. What had she done? She'd basically told the other girl that she had given up any claim to Alex! What had she been thinking?

"_Don't you think you should both let Alex decide what's best for him?"_

Michael's comment from within the granolith fluttered through her memory. Kate bit her lip, turning her head slightly, taking in Isabel, who stood next to her. The tall blonde's forehead was resting lightly against the silver wall in front of her, as she attempted to get her bearings.

"Isabel," Kate said softly.

Isabel turned her head, opening her eyes and meeting Kate's gaze. "What happened?" she asked, her expression dazed.

"We're back," Kate replied.

"Oh," Isabel said blankly.

"I just wanted to say, before we…." Kate trailed off uncertainly.

Isabel's face cleared rapidly. "Alex," she said.

"I never expected to be back here," Kate admitted. "I thought…I guess I was wrong about what it meant that I saw you all as aliens."

"I guess so," Isabel replied, her tone flat.

They stared at each other silently for a long moment.

"Michael was right," Kate finally said.

Isabel raised an eyebrow warily, waiting for her to continue.

"We'll let him decide," Kate clarified.

Isabel's gaze dropped. "He already has," she whispered. With that, she turned away. All thoughts of Alex fled Kate's mind when Isabel exclaimed abruptly, "Liz!"

Kate snapped to attention. She glanced around the room. Everyone was stirring, attempting to understand what had happened to them. They were all standing, leaning against the various walls where their hand-prints could be found. All but Liz. The small dark-haired girl was seated on the floor, her legs up at her chest, her face buried in her knees. She was rocking back and forth, keening.

"Oh my God! Liz!" Max was suddenly on his knees at her side. His hands were everywhere at once, as he tried to determine what was wrong with his girlfriend. "Liz!"

"What's wrong with her?"

Kate's head whipped around at the sound of the voice.

Alex was standing on one of the stairs leading up to the pod chamber. Kate felt her heart start to thunder in her chest at the sight of him. She barely noticed Maria and Kyle huddled behind him, or the sheriff and Serena on the step below them.

However, Alex didn't look at Kate at all, all his attention focused on Liz.

"Max! What happened in there?" Alex demanded, his tone angry.

Max ignored him, pulling Liz gently into his arms. He lifted her against his chest, carrying her past the others on the stairs. Everyone followed closely behind, with the exception of Will. For the first time, Kate looked at her brother. He was standing near his hand-print, his eyes wide with horror.

"Will?" Kate asked. "Will, what happened?"

"It's my fault," Will said dully. "I did that to her."

"What?" Kate demanded, rushing at him. She reached up, grabbing his face between her hands, and forcing him to meet her eyes. "Will, what did you do?"

"I showed her the end of the world," he replied. "I did that, Katie. She saw what's going to happen, fourteen years from now. She saw what I am. _I_ saw what I am."

"What are you talking about?" Kate exclaimed, fear streaking down her spine.

"I killed her, Kate. I killed her."

With that, Will crumpled to the floor, his head in his hands, and started to cry.

"Liz! Liz, please!" Max was desperate. He had carried Liz right out onto the cliff outside the pod chamber. For some reason he thought that the fresh air of Earth might snap her out of whatever was wrong with her.

It wasn't working though. Although she had stopped making noise, the silence that accompanied her trembling was even more disturbing than the pained cries had been.

All Max could do was sit down, still holding Liz in his arms. He held her as tightly as he could, stroking her hair, her back, any part of her he could reach. "It's all right," he whispered soothingly. "I'm here. Liz, it's going to be all right."

"Max, what's wrong with her?" Max turned his head, meeting Maria and Alex's concerned faces. He was surprised to see them. He hadn't been aware that anyone had followed him and Liz out, having been entirely focused on his girlfriend.

"I don't know," Max admitted. "She went to try to convince Will to let us come back and…"

He never got a chance to finish. Alex interrupted fiercely, "Will did this?"

The next thing Max knew, Alex had turned on his heel, storming back into the pod chamber.

"Uh oh," Maria said, hurrying after him.

All Max could do was watch them go. He had no intention of leaving Liz, whatever Alex intended to do to Will. And whatever it was Alex intended to do, Max intended to do anyway, later on, if necessary.

Because Max was still stewing about wanting to rip Will apart with his bare hands, he jumped slightly when he heard Liz's voice. "Max, you have to stop him."

"Liz?" Max pulled back slightly, pushing her long, dark hair off her face. "Liz!"

Liz met his gaze, the terror she had been lost in still lurking in the depths of her beautiful brown eyes. "Max, he needs to be stopped."

"Who?" Max asked, not understanding. "Will? He will be, Liz. Whatever he did to you, he's going to pay for it."

"No!" Liz exclaimed, frustrated. "Not Will! Alex. It's not Will's fault. He didn't do anything to me. Not really." She pulled away from him, climbing unsteadily to her feet.

Max jumped to his own feet, holding her gently by the upper arms. "Liz, be careful!"

"You don't understand," Liz said, pulling away again. "No one does."

"Understand what?" Max demanded, grabbing Liz by the hand and stopping her. "Liz, please just tell me what's going on."

"I have to go in there," Liz insisted. "Max, he needs me."

Max couldn't help it. He felt a flash of jealousy, so hot and so sudden, it momentarily made him see red. "Will? Will needs you? After what he did to you? Liz, you were practically catatonic two minutes ago because of him!"

Liz scowled at him. "Max, do you trust me?"

"Of course," Max snapped. "But that's not the issue."

"It _is_ the issue," Liz replied firmly. "I promise that this will all make sense soon, but you need to let me do this. And it has to be now." Max continued to frown, but he felt himself calming down. After all, he did trust Liz, and he didn't want her to think otherwise. It wasn't like he could forbid her from going to talk to Will anyway - nor did he ever want to forbid her to do anything. He did trust her, and, in the end, it was all that mattered.

He sighed heavily. "Fine," he finally said, shaking his head. "I don't like it, though."

Liz smiled slightly. Max stared at her, disbelieving that this was the same person he had brought outside moments before. But, then, it wasn't that big a surprise. This was Liz, and someone she cared about needed her. Her own concerns had always been secondary whenever that was the case.

"You don't have to like it," she replied, reaching up to kiss him lightly on the lips. "The fact that you're doing it anyway is why I love you."

With those reassuring words ringing in his ears, Max followed Liz back into the pod chamber.


End file.
